The Legends
by A Keeper
Summary: Steve turned to Chelsea, "So you're apart of The Legends division too? How many are there?" "Currently? Just four." Join The Legends as they accompany The Avengers in taking down Loki and somehow find love amidst the chaos on the way. Loki/OC Steve/OC Coulson/OC Bruce Banner/OC
1. Persona

** Okie dokie, Legends, assemble! I own nothing save Jamie, Chelsea, Alex and Danny Boy, whom you'll get to meet in a moment and also whom will probably be doing the disclaimers and information up here every now and again :D I hope you enjoy and for anybody who's looking for a little more information on The Legends, there is a profile of them on my profile! Enjoy! ~A Keeper**

** "I might just lose my mind and never get it back," -Persona, Blue Man Group **

* * *

"Hey, Danielle, Alex, how was Monte Carlo?" Twenty-four year old Jamie Hill said as she joined the agents in the debriefing room after the mission she had not been invited to. Twenty-five year old Danielle Jones looked ever apathetic as she rubbed her temples.

"I had fun," Twenty-two year old Alexandra Middleton said with a mischievous smile as she cast a playful glance towards Danielle.

"Of course you did," She muttered in reply. "You got to play at the casino while searching for your target. I had to knowingly take that stupid drug-laced drink to get to their headquarters." She shot a glare which turned into a scowl.

"Guess what time it is," Twenty-three year old Dr. Chelsea Marx said with a knowing smile as she approached Danielle who was just having one of those days.

She proceeded to bang her head on the table once before groaning, "Ugh, that was not a good idea."

"Sorry, Fury's orders. You need to get that drug out of your system and I'm the doctor that got tasked with it."

"Just hurry up. I hate check ups and I have work to do."

Chelsea laughed, "Don't worry, no needles."

Danielle, Jamie, Alex and Chelsea were the Legends, a secret team of highly trained agents who were used in nearly every form of work the agency could provide. The Legends got their name after their code names were assigned: Danielle became Hestia, intelligent, constantly having a bad day, and was the older sister to the others. Jamie was Persephone, a fun-loving, chaos-prone girl who had the capability of brightening anyone's day. Alex became Artemis, though she was not very skilled with a bow. She was the brick wall that pretty much helped to hold at least everyone in SHIELD up whenever they were having troubles. Danielle and Alex lived off of each other—they both needed each other. Last, but not least, Dr. Chelsea Marx was the sense of the group. She was the one that needed to be there to keep the others from doing stupid things and stupidly dangerous things.

* * *

"Oh, Davy Jones!" Jamie called in a sing-song tone as she entered The Lounge. "Guess who I met!"

Danielle looked up from her armchair surrounded by papers, books and files with a scowl and a half-glare at her nickname. "Is it someone famous?" She asked through her teeth which clenched her pen.

"Yep," Jamie said, rocking on the balls of her feet like a five-year old. Alex rolled her eyes, but a smile graced her face at the childish display. She looked to Danielle, almost as if to ask her to play along, though the death glare made her rethink how badly Jamie needed to play the guessing game.

"Is he a genius?"

"You bet!"

Chelsea smiled from her computer at Jamie's enthusiasm and Danielle's lack thereof. "It's Tony Stark, isn't it?" She said, taking the pen from her mouth and jotting a note on a paper without looking up at the flustered girl. She honestly didn't know how she always got stuck completing the paperwork for the entire team. Wasn't Chelsea supposed to nag Alex and Jamie into doing their own work?

"How'd you know?" Jamie asked, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout.

"Because I've met him before."

"What?!" She looked around at her three team mates who were chuckling and giving her sympathetic smirks. "Wait, all _three_ of you have met him?"

"Yeah, sorry, Jamie." Alex said with a knowing smile.

"How? When?"

"Well, I was put on the Stark missions with Phil," Alex replied, only to receive a burst of "Aw!" from the others who knew well enough of her crush on the agent.

"I did a bunch of his medical work and research after we found out about the magnet in his chest." Chelsea said, and understanding look in her eyes from behind her glasses.

"Okay, what about you, Danny?"

"First, don't call me that. Second, don't get me started on the egomaniac; I was with Natasha on the last Stark deal when he thought it was funny to enter the Moroccan race thing. It was a pain not being able to talk to Alex or Coulson let alone watch him. After that, then Fury put me on babysitting duty when he became the consultant."

Alex shook her head and snorted while Jamie and Chelsea looked at her with surprise in their wide eyes. "Why didn't we know about this before?"

Danielle leaned her head back and covered her eyes with an arm. Groaning, she held up her ID card which had a shiny '09' right beside her name. "Higher clearance level."

The Lounge was an abandoned office at SHIELD's home base as well as an old storage room on the helicarrier that the girls had transformed into a common meeting/sleeping place for their personal use. Both rooms on both bases were nearly identical with the main room an equal square which had two rooms parallel on the sides and a door into the hallway at the front. The room was the standard gray of the agency and the carpet was black. Originally, Jamie was planning on painting it some flamboyant color, but Fury had gone against it. Instead, Jamie, who was in charge of bringing in the furniture, used her pay check to buy a lime green couch, a light blue desk and a pair of maize armchairs that didn't match any other bit of the entire place. The two rooms on the sides were for sleeping, relaxation and to hold the souvenirs from years of service. One room was shared by Danielle and Alex and the other was for Jamie and Chelsea.

All the girls were different, yet fit together like puzzle pieces.

Danielle had grown up with SHIELD since she was six and had the most secrets—and clearance. Alex had joined about six years ago after she was involved in a HYDRA take down and never went back. Jamie grew up as an experiment, though scientists have yet to see any affects of the experimentation aside from kick-butt spy skills. Chelsea was the newest. She had been there for about three years, but she was a genius and the girls took her in in no time flat.

They were a group to be feared and loved and they were one of SHIELD's greatest weapons.

They were unstoppable.

Or so they thought.

* * *

"Alright, I'm exhausted, good night!" Danielle exclaimed, tossing another file into the "complete" pile for one of the mail boys to take when they made their usual runs. She jumped up joyfully, and nearly sprinted to her room. Being a SHIELD agent isn't all it's cracked up to be.

"Night, Danielle!"

"See you later, Danny!"

"Sweet dreams, Davy Jones!"

She hated Jamie's little farewell. Not because of the stupid nickname that had taken root, but because she knew she would dream, but it wouldn't be sweet. She climbed into her silly SHIELD standard bed and closed her eyes, falling asleep when her head hit the pillow.

"There you are, I've been looking for you." She'd recognized that rich accent anywhere and slowly peeled her eyes open. She wasn't in her bed at The Lounge at SHIELD's home base, she was lying on a rather lumpy bed in the same cabin in the middle of nowhere she's appeared in for the last four years.

"Loki, I appear on this bed each time I come here, how could you possibly be looking for me?"

She looked up at the devious man through one eye while the other remained squinted shut. He shook his head and smiled one of those stupidly adorable half-smiles. "Are you going to get up or am I going to have to make you?"

The little cabin lacked a kitchen and bathroom—the two things they didn't need in their dream. It was log cabin with a fire place on the same side as the door that opened into the woods that never ended and never began. The furniture included a faded couch from at least 1925 and a plush rug upon the wood floor. There were two beds opposing each other, one with green covers and the other with gold. Danielle woke in the gold bed.

"Ugh, why can't I just have a peaceful night's rest for once?"

"Because, as you say more often than not, 'the world and everything in it hates you.'"

"Jerk."

"Be careful to whom you call jerk," He said playfully, then scooped her out of the bed, carrying her as she cried, "Loki? Loki! What on Earth are you doing?! No, no, no! Put me down! I-"

"If you insist," He dropped her upon the not-so-comfy rug and shot a glare at him.

"I swear on your silly, gold horns that I will get you back for that!"

"Oh, really?"

"Ah huh," She used her legs to trip him (to his surprise) and struggled briefly before pining his arms to the ground and sitting up on his chest. "Pinned you."

"I suppose you're enjoying this," He grunted, then flung her arms away, rolled atop her and pinned her. "But I prefer it when you're on your back and I have control."

"Yeah, I bet you like that." She leaned up and gave him a quick, passionate kiss which caught him by surprise—something she took advantage of and pushed him off before pinning him once more. "Pinned you again; you're losing your touch."

He smiled up at her and chuckled, ceasing to struggle as a silent submission.

Her smiled weakened and she released a nearly untraceable sigh before lying beside him, resting her head upon his chest. In the first year of their coexistence, they had hated each other and did everything in their power to avoid each other. In the second year, however, he saved her from being lost forever in the never ending woods and they developed a friendship. More recently did feelings of romanticism begin to stir and much more recently were those feelings addressed. "Where are you?" She whispered.

"I wish I could say," He replied, taking her hand and kissing her palm. "But I promise that I will come to you, soon enough."

"When?"

"Soon," He chuckled. "You'll have to be patient, my dear one."

She smiled at that. Most of her life, she had been broken and kicked and used and betrayed by nearly everyone, but what he had said—my dear one—that rang a bell in her heart. She was _his_ and his only.

"'Til then," She whispered. A lonely tear slipped down her cheek as she closed her eyes to leave him once more and she felt his cold hand wipe it away.

He would always be there to wipe away her tears.

Always.

* * *

There was a rather loud knock on the door and Alex and Jamie broke into a run and, Alex being the first one there, opened the door to see Phil Coulson frozen in mid-knock. "Don't. Do that. Danielle's sleeping and you do not want to be in the middle of that angry mess."

"Sorry, Alex," He whispered and she couldn't help but blush. Out of the four girls and their numerous attempts to get him to call them by their first names, he only did so to her. "We can leave her if you want, but I need to take at least two of you out to the Tesseract, it's sparking and they want good protection if anything goes wrong."

"Well, since Danielle's asleep and Dr. Marx is working on a science project," She turned to her companion. "Jamie, come on."

Phil's eyes widened as he realized that he could very well become involved in another trivia dispute about Captain America. "Oh, you'll be fine." She hissed quietly, though she knew well enough that Jamie would instigate something stupid soon enough.

* * *

About two hours later, Danielle woke to find only Chelsea who was asleep at the computer, her face pressing the 'B' continuously.

Gently, she shook the good doctor awake. "How do you do it?" She murmured groggily.

"Do what?" She muttered with a smirk as she pushed the swivel chair and the tired doctor to the couch. She shoved Chelsea on to the faded plush in what was the most obvious act of compassion she had shown in a long while.

"Live off of eight hours of sleep a week?"

"Very carefully," She replied as she laid a blanket over her friend. "And years of practice."

"Of course."

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, before you pass out, where did the others go?"

"Phil wanted someone to go to the Dark Energy thingamabob, they'll get there tonight."

"Without me? Tsk, tsk, they should know better. I'll have to meet up with them."


	2. Fire and Rain

**Here you go! I own only that which is mine and I hope you enjoy and (if you want) review!**

** "I've seen fire and I've seen rain, I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again." -Fire and Rain, James Taylor **

* * *

"So we're helping them evacuate the building, but we're not evacuating ourselves from the God darn thing?" Jamie asked as they walked up the steps to the NASA building dedicated to dark energy and weapons research. The entire building was concrete and rock and frankly very dull aside from the actual information it held. Jamie would have a field day adding some color every here and there, but some people consider that vandalism and could sue her for it, so with a pout she was left to the tasteless colors of black and gray.

"Well, actually, Artemis and I will be evacuating employees and the equipment. _You_ will be joining Director Fury and Agent Barton downstairs to help with the Tesseract research."

"_What?"_

"See you later, Persephone!"

Alex couldn't help but smile and Phil chuckled. As much as she hated their code names, she loved it when he called her Artemis. That, and it ticks Clint off.

"I'm going to go help with the transportation," She said. "See you soon."

As bad as it sounded, she did a fan girl squeal when she saw that little hurt look on his face when she left. It meant he would miss her, and if he misses her, then he cares about her and she very clearly cared about him. If he cared about her, it meant that he was thinking about her quite a bit which made her heart flutter. Is she over thinking this? She wouldn't know.

She had been helping out for about a half hour when the ground suddenly was ripped out from under her and she hit the pavement. Barking some choice Romanian words, she found she was being helped by Coulson. "Artemis, are you alright?"

Of course he was there when she was caught unprepared. Only he.

"Yeah, I'm alright, what was that?"

"Don't know," He had helped her up, but was holding on to her long after he could have let go. "But something tells me we gotta move." He then turned to the men who were scrambling to grab cases. "No, no, just leave it! Go, get out of here!"

He pulled Alex to a helicopter and upon climbing inside, she cried over the whirring blades, "Wait, what about Jamie?!"

"She'll be alright, I promise!"

It was a lot less comforting than she wanted it to be.

* * *

The Earth shook and pulled Jamie to her knees beside Barton. Her hands became scraped from their brief impact with the ground and a massive blue light filled her vision—something had started the Tesseract.

Barton placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Hide." Usually, she wouldn't have listened, but something told her that it wasn't her place to stay. So she crawled between a massive metal box and a small alcove in the wall, peeking through a crevice to see a man with pale skin dotted with perspiration and long black hair standing on a platform. He was wearing greenish-gold leather clothing and had a gold scepter with a shining blue gem not unlike the Tesseract at its top.

"Sir," Director Fury yelled to the man who bore a dark grin. "I'm going to have to ask you to drop the spear."

The man eyed it thoughtfully, then raised it and shot blue beams of deadly energy at some of the mercenaries before running several others through.

Jamie gasped, fearing for the first time in a long time for her life. She covered her mouth with her hand to silence a scream and felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Desperately, she hit the red button in her watch which sent out a distress call to Danielle, Alex and Chelsea.

Hesitantly, she stole another look out as the man spoken and found that he had pinned Agent Barton. "You have heart," The hostile said, then placed the tip of the spear to Barton's chest, transferring some strange blue light into him. Barton's eyes became completely black for a moment, then turned blue and he pocked his gun.

Shoot. Mind control. Really?

She looked to Director Fury who had stuffed the Tesseract into a case and made to leave, "Please don't," The glowing man-of-doom said. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury said, casting a quick glance towards Jamie who nodded, instantly understanding his intention.

"Of course it does; I've come too far for anything else." He was extremely egotistical, for he continued by saying. "I am Loki, of Asgard and I am burdened by glorious purpose."

Jamie silently stood (well, squatted,) and prepared for the plan to unfold when Dr. Selvig stood and said, "Loki, brother of Thor."

As Fury continued to speak with him, Jamie's mind went to Danielle who worked on the New Mexico project—the incident with Thor. Would she know Loki? Maybe she could-

"Freedom is life's greatest lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace." Loki pointed his spear at Selvig and quickly turned him into a mindless soldier.

Jamie covered her mouth again, hating the tightness of her face from the stupid tears. Get it together, Hill, if anyone else was in your position, they would not be hiding like a child. But was he right? About freedom...was it really a lie?

She shook her head and cleared her mind of the questions, focusing on her breathing and what she would have to do to survive.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old."

"He's right, the portal is collapsing in on itself; we've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

She heard a gunshot and saw Fury go down and knew instantly that she had to make her move.

With a magnetic, taser like device, she drew the case to her, using Barton's temporary surprise to escape through an emergency exit.

Jamie blocked any other thought or feeling out as she ran, feeling Barton's trained hunting skills zoning in on her. She made as many erratic turns as she could, laying out a mental map in her mind and trying to make for an exit.

The snake like hiss of an arrow slid past her cheek, nearly touching it. She hit the wall in surprise, looked down the hall to find that another arrow was already in tact and decided to break down a door. Upon climbing inside, she located the nearest air vent and climbed in, crawling through as fast as the claustrophobic creating space would allow her.

She kicked out the vent in the hall and climbed out, dragging the case with her into a four way intersection which she found to be blocked in three paths. With no other option than to be killed, she made for the open path and then was overcome by a metal object smashing into her head. With her remaining strength, she hit the comm, but could not muster enough strength to whisper. As she passed into unconsciousness, she felt the case leave her hand.

* * *

"Chelsea, calm down, yes I got the distress signal from Jamie. I'll be there in less than a minute." Danielle said, cranking up the speed of the motorcycle to the fastest possible as a car the SHIELD facility came into sight on the otherwise deserted road. "Hold on, Marx, I gotta bring up Alex."

She switched from Chelsea to Alex and said, "Where am I going, Eagle Eye Artemis?"

"See the approaching car? The Tesseract is in there in a silver briefcase. Attempt to retrieve it."

"Attempt in progress." As the car passed, she jumped from the bike to the back of the car, a rush of adrenaline lighting up her senses like a flare. She couldn't help but smile quickly at the fun she got to do at her job. She found with a violent surprise after throwing her first punch that she was fighting agents she knew. This surprise made her pause and one punch knocked off her motorcycle helmet and brought blood from her lip. Angered, she mercilessly rendered her assailant unconscious before hearing an all too familiar voice say darkly, "Looking for this?"

She turned slowly, only to meet the eyes of Loki. His eyes widened in amazement, the case long forgotten in his slackened grip while a blazing gold and blue staff was held in his other hand. "Danielle," He whispered.

She went to say his name and probably some witty comment about how sweaty and trying to steal from her employer didn't really suit him, but heard a gunshot and felt enormous pain erupt in her shoulder which made her hardly realize the fact that the blow had sent her off the car. Her body slammed into the road, knocking the wind out of her and making stars dance in her vision.

"Anyone," She grunted, her mind buzzing angrily. "Attempt failed." And with an exhale, she let her body go limp and her mind go silent more from utter exhaustion and shock than pain.

* * *

"Hestia? Hestia!" Alex shouted, tears crawling down her eyes and sobbing beginning. "Danielle Jones, don't die now!"

No, not Danielle. She was too strong. Nothing could have taken her down short of a nuclear bomb and even that would receive questionable results as to its accuracy. What had happened? Who had she found that could render the best of the best...

She wouldn't say dead. Not yet.

* * *

"Persephone?!" Dr. Marx cried into the static of the comm. "Jamie, come on, don't be dead."

She couldn't even picture a life without Jamie Hill there to brighten her day even when an entire year's worth of work goes down the drain and your boss hates you because you handed in a report late and your lab team isn't working appropriately. She was the type of person who pushed clouds away from the sun and then would sit and watch as day passed into night and her good work vanished and enjoyed every bit of it.

Which is why she can't be dead; because someone needs to push clouds away.

Someone needed to show them the beauty in the darkness and light.

* * *

There was a massive explosion as the building and surrounding areas collapsed. Coulson pulled Alex away from the window and held her as she cried into his chest. "Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" She heard him ask.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force...sound a general call, I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase. Coulson, get back to base; Artemis, you're working rescue for Persephone and Hestia, then you're joining us at base. This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war."

"What do we do?" Coulson asked, casting a concerned glance to the now stone cold Alex.

There was no reply. There didn't need to be.


	3. A Thousand Miles

**This chapter is dedicated to the amazing people who followed and favorite this piece: Tigerdogfl, Jillz16 and IcedragonXninkuX, but this chapter is mostly dedicated to Moonsword17 because you were my first review! I thank you so much and this update is at your request! Enjoy! Review? Most of all, have fun! ~A Keeper**

** "If I could fall into the sky, do you think time would pass me by? 'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you, tonight." -A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton**

* * *

"Alright, whoever is sitting on my gut, get off." Danielle groaned, opening her eyes to find herself in a hospital room with Alex, Chelsea and Jamie—who was, of course, sitting on her chest.

"How are you doing, Danny Boy?" Jamie asked. Despite an incredibly obvious wound on her forehead, Jamie didn't seem to have lost any of her pep, though her hands were wrapped in bandages which made her look as though she chopped bricks in half as a career.

"Don't call me that," She muttered. "I'm fine. What time is it? How long have I been out?"

"Since you were first knocked out, about eight or nine hours. It's about eight in the morning. Do you realize how unconscious prone you are?" Chelsea replied. After receiving a glare, she added quietly, "We thought you and Jamie were dead."

Danielle snorted and swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing like she had never been wounded. "It takes a lot more than a bullet to kill an ancient legend."

She shed her hospital gown and slipped into a fresh SHIELD uniform, covering up the wince as she pulled her wounded arm through the sleeve. Tenderly, she removed the stupid looking bandage that was wrapped around her head for the cut on her forehead and replaced it with a little band aid. "Danielle, you shouldn't be up-"

"Go ahead, Chelsea, try to tell me what to do, but just like the last eight hundred times, I won't pay attention to it." She snapped, then stormed out of the room.

"Jeez, who shot her dog?" Alex asked.

"Don't know," Jamie replied.

"Well, what do you know?" Chelsea asked, her face a blank mask, though annoyance was her dominant feeling. She was Danielle's doctor and had the authority to put her out of the job for as long as she pleased, but no matter what she did, Danielle would certainly find a way around it or just blatantly dismiss it. She hated it, but loved her friend dearly, so their relationship was tense often and their patience with each other was great. "We've been friends with her forever, yet what do we know about why she is who she is? I mean, why is she Level 09, yet she is always associated with us?"

"Give her a break, Chels," Alex said. "And trust me, you do _not_ want to poke her hornets nest. She is not directly mad at you, she's blowing off steam. In fact, she'll likely apologize later, but do not under any circumstances give her a reason to be mad at you."

"Noted, Artemis, but you should know by now that it's not smart to pick a fight with me either."

Alex sighed, but could say nothing else, for their comms buzzed—Fury wanted them.

* * *

"No way am I going over there!" Dr. Chelsea Marx exclaimed. "He could turn into a freaking raging monster and eat my head off!"

"I'm going to have to agree with Athena on this one," Danielle said. "Dr. Banner is unstable, provoking him is unwise, unsafe and likely to end in disaster."

"Thank you, Spock, now will you let me finish handing out assignments before I take your complaints?" Fury asked. When no one replied, he continued. "Now, Dr. Marx will go to appeal to Banner's science side. She will be accompanied by Agent Romanoff and twenty well trained agents to protect them."

"Sir, I'm a medical doctor and don't do energy science at all, how am I 'appealing to his science side' if I don't have one myself?"

"You study the medical needs of supernatural occurrences and his accident is a supernatural occurrence, now let me finish."

Chelsea glared at him, but did not say anything else.

"Artemis, you will join Agent Coulson in negotiating with Stark. I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time with that.

"Persephone, you will accompany myself in persuading Rogers to come, though I doubt that will require much effort." Jamie struggled to contain her smile—she was a big fan of Captain America. When no one was looking, she stuck her tongue out at Coulson who was standing dormant in the corner, waiting for the missions to be handed out. He scowled and shook his head, which caused Alex to smile and chuckle quietly. Fury turned to Danielle and said, "Hestia, I want you to-"

"I wish to stay here to aid the search for the criminal, Loki."

Fury just kind of...stared at her in surprise while the others' eyes widened noticeably. She had never asked to do something other than her mission. Sure, she had fought with Fury, interrupted him, challenged him, disobeyed orders or altered the mission, but she had never asked for such a specific mission as far as the girls knew.

"You wish to find him? Why?"

"He left a mark on me that I can never remove," She replies stonily. "I wish to repay it."

Chelsea raised an eyebrow; she detected a level of hurt and sadness in Danielle's voice. Glancing around, she found that she was the only one detecting it—this could be interesting.

"Very well, Hestia. You will join Maria Hill. Legends, disassemble."

"Hey, Hestia!" Jamie called as their made their exit. "Say 'hi' to my sister for me!"

She nodded, then turned to the medical doctor, sighing, she said, "I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier, you know how much I hate hospitals and I've been having kind of a stressful day."

"Apology accepted," Chelsea replied, almost reluctantly. "Find that jerk for us so we can show him not to mess with The Legends."

* * *

Chelsea focused on her breathing.

Inhale, hold for four seconds, exhale, four seconds, hold, four seconds, repeat.

"You're going to be fine, Athena." Natasha—Black Widow—said. For a woman just coming in from an interrogation in Russia, she looked remarkably beautiful.

_She has to,_ She thought. _She's a seductress, and I'm a doctor. I don't belong out here, it was never in the job description that I would be doing field work or even be put relatively close to the green monster that could rip off my face!_

"Easy for you to say, Nat." She muttered, tugging at her collar. "You've dealt with things like this before."

Natasha opened her mouth—probably to offer some not so comforting words—when Nekka, the little girl they hired to bait Banner, ran in and out through the window.

"Should've gotten paid up front, Banner." she heard a weary voice proclaim.

Show time.

Upon stepping out, she nearly did a double take. For a short-tempered, powerful, dangerous maniac scientist, he sure was fine looking.

His hair was unkempt and his clothes were slightly baggy, but cozy. His eyes were infuriatingly dazzling; a vibrant green, nearly electric, that held so much sadness and exhaustion that she felt her heart break a little.

It took a moment and a subtle nudge from Natasha to realize that she had been staring, so she took off her glasses and fumbled with them, pretending to clean her already spotless specs to make it appear as though she had had trouble seeing.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you sure picked a heck of a place to settle." Nat continued.

Banner remained relaxed and collected, setting down his case gently before having a look around the room, seemingly ignoring them as he answered, "Avoiding stress isn't the secret."

"What is?" She couldn't help but ask.

He looked to her and offered the faintest of smiles. He didn't answer. "You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart."

_Crap!_

"I assume the whole place is surrounded." He peeked outside, but saw no one.

_He found us out!_

Natasha remained cool, shedding her shawl in her seductive manner, "Nope, just you, me and Athena."

"Athena?" He turned to her and she felt a blush rise in her cheeks. "And your actress buddy, is she a spy, too? They start that young?"

"I did."

_Danielle did._ She thought bitterly, then spoke, "I am not a spy. I'm a doctor. I study medical impacts of supernatural occurrences, not unlike your incident."

_Jeez, way to throw that in there subtly, Marx._

He smiled weakly, then turned to Nat. "Who are you?"

"Natasha Romanoff," She replied gently. That was a big surprise. Since when did she just give away her name?

"Are you going to kill me? Because that's not going to work out...for everyone."

"No, we're here on behalf of SHIELD." She spoke up. _Because SHIELD has not tried to kill him._

He nodded and sighed knowingly, "SHIELD, how did they find me?"

"We never lost you," Nat replied dully. "We've kept our distance; even helped keep some interested parties off your scent."

"Why?"

"Director Nick Fury seems to trust you, but now we need you to come in." Chelsea added. She was _not_ being left out of this conversation.

"What if I say no?"

_Please don't._

"I'll persuade you."

_Okay, we're doing fine...right?_

"And what if...the other guy says no?"

_Get me out of here, get me out of here, get me out of here!_

"You've been more than a year without an incident, I don't think you want to break that streak." Chelsea lightly scoffed like a total idiot. Why couldn't she keep her cool?

She watched him carefully as he walked up to a swinging cradle and pushed it gently. "Well, I don't every time get what I want." He whispered.

Well, that melted her heart.

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." Nat said, sitting at a table and beckoning him to look at a picture on her phone. Way to destroy emotions, Nat. Way to go.

"Oh, I actively try to avoid those."

She covered up her laugh with a cough.

"This is the Tesseract, it has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

"What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?"

_Cute and funny, who wouldn't want him? Oh, wait..._

"He wants you to find it, it's been taken." _By Loki, someone Danielle wants to find. What does she know that the girls and I don't? Stupid clearance level._

"It emits a gamma signature too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you. If there was, that's where we'd be."

"What about you, Athena? Why are you here? Why doesn't Fury have you on the Tesseract project?"

She was taken by surprise, hadn't she told him this already? Regardless, she answered professionally. "I'm a medical and somewhat biology doctor. I don't do gamma. Energies are not my forte. I'm here because Fury thought that I could appeal to your science side."

He nodded, then turned back to Nat. "So Fury's not after the monster?"

"Not that he's told me."

"And he tells you everything?"

_You bet your arse he doesn't._

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this,"

"He needs me in a cage."

_Oh, Lord-_

"No one's going to put you in a cage-"

"Stop lying to me!" He gripped the edges of the table and shouted, causing Chelsea to trip and fall on to the carpet in fear and Nat bringing out her gun.

She laid there, panting and trembling in horror. He looked over to her and his eyes softened. "I'm sorry, that was mean." He said, calm as ever. "I just wanted to see how you would react."

"What the heck!" She exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and fixing her glasses.

Nat was not convinced. Banner held his hands up and said, "Why don't we do this the easy way? Natasha? You don't use that and the other guy doesn't make a mess, right?"

She put a finger to her ear, "Stand down."

"Just us?"

Chelsea shook her head, red-faced and disgusted in the both of them. "I need a new job." With embarrassment and anger boiling in her, she stormed to the plane, awaiting Nat and Banner.

* * *

_I'm in the same room as Captain America!_ Jamie squealed inwardly with delight. The work out room was hot and humid and _man_ was there a lot of punching bags.

She winced as Steve threw punch after punch until he knocked it off the chains. "Trouble sleeping?" She murmured, giggling a little when he jumped in surprise.

She was alone, Fury had a meeting with The Eery Council as The Legends called them, but she wasn't complaining.

"It's not polite to sneak up on someone, Miss Persephone, I'll have to get you back now." He said with a playful smile as he cleaned up.

"I'm quaking in my boots." Actually, she was.

"Have you come with a mission?"

"Why do you presume that? Maybe I'm here to spend quality time with my favorite hero?" She knew she had said the wrong thing, when both of their faces light up red and he reached up to rub his neck. She murmured almost ashamedly, "I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"More like trying to save it." She handed him the files. "What can you tell me about the Tesseract?"

"Did you lose it?"

"Something like that."

"Who took it?"

"He's called Loki; he's...not from around here." She took a seat beside him and smiled. "There's a lot we're going to have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger."

"At this point, I doubt anything will surprise me."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong."

He chuckled. "Miss? About the Tesseract—you should have left it in the ocean."

"Peachy." She watched him carefully, then said, "You know, I was an experiment, too. We're really alike, you and I."

"Oh, yeah? What year were you born?"

"No idea."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Then how do you know your age?"

"Radioactive decay."

* * *

_Where are you?_

Agent Danielle "Hestia" Jones bit her lip as she watched the monitors, her mind rabid with thoughts of why and how.

Oh, and _what_ the heck has he done?

Why had he attacked SHIELD? Why did he need the Tesseract? Why had he put those specific agents under his control? How had he gotten here? How was he going to make it in this world?

Most importantly; had everything he told her been true?

She nearly laughed after a moment at that. Of course not. He was Loki, prince of mischief and lies, King of the silver tongue. Feared by many, hated by most, loved by few.

Breaker of her heart.

No, he never said anything of truth o her.

So now, she was not searching for him out of mere affection, she was once more a deadly, emotionless machine searching for the fugitive, Loki, who has declared war upon the Earth, her home.

He should be indescribably afraid.

Yet, in spite of all this, she utterly hated herself is because she still loved him. She had become a cold machine, ready to take on Loki, but that didn't mean that she had suddenly lost everything he had ever meant to her. It didn't matter if there was an element of hatred or that she had substantial reasons to believe that he did not and never had cared about her as she did of him, she would always love him. He had wiggled his way into her heart despite all she had done to prevent it and that's what made her mad more than anything.

That even when she thought she could succeed, he was her weakness and made her fail.

* * *

"Why couldn't I have gone with Chelsea?" Alex groaned as Coulson pulled up to Stark Tower in the city that never sleeps.

"You mean Athena," He corrected. "Sorry, we can't afford you slipping up when civilians are around."

"Because 'Athena' is so inconspicuous."

"You know what I mean."

She smiled at his frustration, then saw stress and worry in his eyes and tiredness in his face. "Coulson?" She asked as he looked through his briefcase for the electronic file intended for Tony Stark. He didn't hear her. She did not raise her voice, but instead murmured,"Phil? Are you alright?"

He looked into her eyes and attempted to supply a rather pathetic smile until she raised her eyebrows and he understood immediately that she wasn't buying it. "Sorry, it's confidential-"

"I didn't ask that," She interrupted. "I asked if you were alright."

He sighed a moment and looked deep into her eyes before leaning in hesitantly and kissing her lips lightly, gently. "Better now." He whispered against her warm cheek. "Now let's tackle Stark together."

She nodded, her eyes wide in surprise and her heart pounding with desire. She smiled, then climbed out of the car and walked through the disarmed door Coulson held open for her.

"Does he know we're here?" She asked as they rose in the elevator. It was playing Black Sabbath's Iron Man. "And does he know that this song is about a time traveling man who gets turned to metal?"

"He will soon enough," He replied with a playful smile as he dialed Stark's number.

At the first try, he didn't pick up. Second try, not much better. Alex sighed and held out her hand; reluctantly, he handed over the phone. She tapped around and hit a few buttons before handing it back to Phil. Hacking and rewriting Jarvis' protocols wasn't that hard. "Mr. Stark, we need to talk."

"_You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message." _

"You've got to be joking," She whispered, running a hand over her face in frustration. Maybe when she was older and looked back on this, she would laugh. Or not.

He merely smiled knowingly and said, "This is urgent."

"_Then leave it urgently." _

Ding!

The doors opened and they stepped out. Tony held his hands up as if to say, 'I didn't do it!' While he actually said, "Security breach!"

"Really?"

"Phil! Artemis! Please, come in," Pepper said.

"'Phil'?" Tony asked, genuinely confused.

"We can't stay-"

"Uh, his first name is 'agent.'"

"Come on in, we're celebrating."

"Which is why _they_ can't stay,"

_Jeez! How did those two ever form a romantic relationship? _

"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," Alex said, holding out the file to him.

"Ah, Artemis, a _dear_ as always." Tony said sarcastically. "Where's Hestia? She's a lot more fun to play with. Oh, I don't like to be handed things."

_Then how did you get through life?_

"That's fine, because I love to be handed things," Pepper said, handing her wine glass to Alex and taking the file, then turning to give Tony the file and take his wine glass. _Oh; that's how. _

"I don't drink," She muttered, then handed it to Phil and took his phone. "Hestia is currently preoccupied."

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."

"This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about The Avengers?" Pepper asked naively. "Which I know nothing about." Alex snorted. _Oh, poor, innocent, Pepper, how on Earth did you get sucked into a life with him? Not that I pity you, it's probably a nice life, but a pain in the neck, too._

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought," Tony said, setting up the file with one of his doohickeys. "And I didn't even qualify; apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

"That I did know."

"Honey, we all know that."

"Ms. Potts, got a second?" Tony asked, then beckoned her over.

"Have a moment," She whispered then made her way to Tony.

"Maybe you should wait outside," Phil murmured.

"Uh, no, if Dan—Hestia can handle him, so can I." _You only kissed me, that doesn't mean I'm going to do as you say when I make an awkward scene._

"That's not what I meant-"

"Then what did you mean, Phil?" She asked, angered. What was he trying to hide? What could he only tell Stark or perhaps even Pepper, but not her? "What aren't you telling me?"

"Artemis," He went to say, but stopped at her raised eyebrows. He sighed, "Agent Alexandra," Now both her eyebrows were up. "Alex, please, you have to trust me-"

"Any chance you two are driving by LaGuardia?" Pepper asked, approaching them.

"We can drop you off." Alex said firmly, erasing any former emotion from her voice.

"Fantastic!" Pepper turned to Coulson as they entered the elevator. "I want to hear about the cellist, is that still a thing?"

"Cellist?" She couldn't help but exclaim under her breath.

Phil shot her an apologetic look before saying, "She moved back to Portland."

"What? No!"

She had a feeling this was going to be a long ride.


	4. What Hurts the Most

**"What hurts the most was being so close and having so much to say, then watching you walk away..." -What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts**

* * *

Coulson, Alex, Captain Rogers, Jamie and Danielle were flying towards the secret location and everyone had a different topic on mind.

Danielle was leaning against the side, watching the water move through the window. Phil was talking to his idol, which amused the girls greatly, though they currently had their own problems.

"_What are you reading?" _

Danielle's eyes widened and she looked around quickly, only to find that the owner of the voice was not there. It was just her loud thinking. Closing her eyes, she went back to that memory of the cabin in the middle of nowhere and the girl written about by Edgar Allen Poe called Anabel Lee.

"_It's a poem," She replied, holding out the page to him so he could see the format and the image at the bottom. "It's about a love strong enough to outlast death-"_

"Any luck in locating the jerk that knocked me out?" Jamie asked upon joining Danielle.

"If there was, that's where I'd be." She replied quietly.

"You're right, stupid question."

"There are no stupid questions; only bad explanations and half-arse listeners." She turned to her friends and said, "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we arrive."

"Will do."

"I thought I might find you here."

Numbly, Danielle opened her eyes and looked to him; his triumphant face fell. She decided this was a bad idea and turned to wake up when he grabbed her by her shoulders, "No, no, no, Danielle, I need to speak with you. I did not know you were there and I most certainly did not order Barton to hurt you."

"Why does it matter?" She asked, pushing him away and standing. "I know why you're here and I can not support you."

"Danielle, you're not thinking straight," He said, taking her into his arms. His cursed lips went to her brow as he cupped her face between his hands. She struggled not to lean towards his dreadfully sweet touch. "You would be a queen to a new world, a better world. A queen to a world we'd rule together. My queen..."

"No, _you're_ not thinking straight!" She exclaimed, pushing him away. "I can't do that!"

In blind fury, he slapped her, sending her to the floor in shock and instant, brief pain. Part of her wanted to stand and fight him like she had told herself she would if it ever came to that; but like a coward, she closed her eyes and fled the dream.

"Danielle?" Loki said, taking her shoulders and shaking her. "Danielle, I'm sorry, come back!"

She had already slipped once more out of his grasp.

* * *

"Danielle, we're here."

She blinked awake, nodded her thanks to Alex who had woken her up by not poking her face as Jamie had and sighed. She would not be sleeping for a long time.

Jamie came and took a seat by her, a concerned yet friendly expression upon her face. "Are you alright, Davy Jones?"

She lied smoothly, "Never better."

Jamie smiled and nodded, then went to explain who Stephen Hawking is to Steve.

* * *

Upon landing, Danielle headed immediately to the bridge to avoid the concerns of her friends and the prodding of Dr. Marx's equipment.

"Where did she go?!" Alex exclaimed, searching for her lost friend with Jamie while their partners were slowly leaving the ship.

"I don't see her!"

"Who are you looking for?" Chelsea asked, joining them.

"Dan—er, Hestia." They said in unison without looking at her.

"Of course you are," The three jumped when Agent Romanoff appeared out of nowhere, then laughed.

Coulson joined them, with Steve in tow. "Agent Romanoff, Athena, meet Captain Rogers."

"Hi," She said, barely paying attention to him. She looked to Coulson and Alex. "They need you on the bridge, they're starting the face-trace."

"See you there."

Steve turned to Chelsea, "So you're apart of The Legends division, too? How many are there?"

"Currently? Just four." She looked up just in time to see brilliant green eyes and her face light up. "Dr. Banner! Over here!" She waved him over and he smiled awkwardly. "Persephone, Captain Rogers, this is Dr. Bruce Banner. Unfortunately, you'll have to meet Coulson, Artemis and Hestia later."

Dr. Banner shook Steve's hand, "Yes, they told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube,"

"Is that the only word on me?" The air grew tense, The girls' comms rang and they listened and watched carefully.

"Only word I care about."

"You guys might want to step inside for a minute," Jamie suggested. "It's about to get a little hard to breath."

So naturally, they peered over the edge.

"Is this a submarine?" Rogers asked.

"Really? They want me in a pressurized metal container?" As they rose, Banner locked eyes with Chelsea and muttered, "Oh, no, this is much worse."

Steve looked over to Jamie who became pale and unable to stand still. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"As silly as it is, I'm not fond of heights." Her face turned red with embarrassment.

He smiled and offered his arm, "Then let's get inside," He leaned close and whispered, "You know, I happen to have a fear of..."

"No!"

"Ah huh."

"Well, those two hit it off."

"Oh, Lord," Alex whispered, then froze, grabbing hold of Chelsea's arm.

"Ouch! What?"

"We're in love."

"What?"

"The Legends! We're in love with legends! Don't you see? Me and Coulson, you and Banner, Jamie and Steve, Danielle and...Danielle and..."

"Danielle and Loki!" Realization slammed into the good doctor like a brick.

"And Loki? What? How-"

"Just trust me, I'll show you after this is all over."

"But I-"

"Later, let's go!"

* * *

"Home, sweet home," Alex muttered upon walking on to the crowded and busy bridge filled with people the girls had grown to know and love. Chelsea's eyes went to Bruce who was eyeing security warily.

"You're alright," She whispered, offering an arm for a tour. "I won't let anyone touch you."

"That's reassuring."

Danielle was speaking to Agent Hill when the party spotted her. "Hey, Hestia! Agent Hill! Look who came to town!" Jamie said, gesturing to Captain America.

"You treat her with respect, Cap," Maria said. "Else you have me and the fury of Legends at your arse."

"Of course, Miss." He turned to Jamie and slipped her a ten. "I believe I owe you for my surprise."

She smiled and put the money one of her many pockets. "Come on, let me introduce you around. I have a feeling you're going to have to get to know a few people here and there.

While Fury spoke to the men, the girls had gone to their separate areas of expertise. Danielle was searching still, operating the face-trace program in hopes of locating the fugitive. Jamie was brightening someone's horrible mood with Steve in tow while Alex chatted with Maria who was interested as much as Jamie in her strange relationship with Coulson and could deal out some very insightful advice when she wanted to.

"Athena will assist you with the gamma readings," Fury said.

"Sir?" She thought she had finished her work with Dr. Banner once she brought him along. Not that she was complaining, but she wasn't too keen on working with a man who could rip her apart in a matter of seconds.

"Dr. Banner is going to need as much help as he can get and since you two are pretty close, you'll make a fine assistant. Anything you care to add?"

"No, Sir," She growled, absently shaking his hand. She glared at her boss who sent a some what apologetic look her way. The other Legends sent him glares as well as mouthed apologies, though Danielle was wrapped up in the face-trace to notice after her deadly look to Fury. "Come on," She muttered. "I'll show you to the lab while we wait for Mr. Stark."

As they walked down a series of hallways, Banner grabbed her arm after struggling to keep up with her. "You could at least pretend to like working with me." He said with a toothy side smile, as though he was embarrassed to speak to her.

"Dr. Banner-"

"Please, call me Bruce."

Hesitantly, she continued, "Bruce, I am quite happy and honored to be working with you, I just wanted to be informed that I would be doing it. I happen to have about a billion other things that I have to get done and I thought I would have time for it."

"Why would Fury send you to help me, then?"

"Don't know yet," She replied, opening the door to the lab. "Alright, time to introduce you to the toys."

* * *

While Banner and Chelsea toyed around with gamma detectors and some other scientific stuff, the others remained on the bridge, listening to the brief and waiting patiently to the billionaire. Danielle was ever involved with locating Loki to the point where Fury became curious.

"Hestia," He said, quietly close to her so only they could hear. "Why are you so adamant about locating this man?"

She thought carefully, for he would surely check in with others about her answer. "One of the agents he killed was a dear friend of mine. I am searching for compensation. He also put Agent Barton under a mind control and shot me, so there is that minor detail."

He nodded and huffed with a smile, "Just be careful, Danielle." Her name surprised her. "I don't want you to get hurt."

* * *

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble,"

"No, no, it's fine."

Jamie snickered as Alex approached her. "What's so funny?" She questioned quietly.

"Your lover just asked for Steve to sign his Captain America trading cards."

"Really? I'm surprised it took him so long to ask," She said with a smile. Unknowingly, she and Phil spoke in unison. "It's a vintage set, it took him a couple years to collect them all. Near mint, but with slight foxing around the edges."

Jamie laughed out loud.

"We got a hit, sixty-seven percent match." Agent Smith called out. Danielle hurried over to him, a hand on the chair while the other worked to affirm his find. "Cross match, seventy-nine percent."

"What's the location?" Jamie asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Kongstrasse." Danielle said, shooing Smith away so she could operate the face-trace. "He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain, Legends," Fury said. "You're up."


	5. You Give Love a Bad Name

**I own only that which is mine, unfortunately I don't own Loki. Or Steve. Or Phil. Or Bruce. But whatever, I own the girls! This chapter's song and song quote is: **

** "You're a loaded gun, there's nowhere to run, no one can save me the damage is done. Shot through the heart, and you're to blame. You give love a bad name." -You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi**

**Enjoy! ~A Keeper **

* * *

Danielle sat in the jet, checking and rechecking the coordinates. She didn't know what would happen when she saw Loki, but she prayed it would end alright.

"Phil called Stark," Alex said. "He'll meet us in Stuttgart."

"Great," She said dryly. "Just what I need."

"Where's Chelsea?" Jamie asked, sitting beside them.

"She's with Dr. Banner, they're working on locating the Tesseract, you were there when he assigned her to him." Alex said with a smile and a shake of her head.

"That stinks,"

"But it's necessary," Danielle pointed out.

"It still stinks."

"Lord above, give me strength."

* * *

"What are they doing?" Alex whispered upon seeing hundreds of people seemingly shorter than their man. "And _what_ is he wearing?"

"Are those horns?" Jamie hissed.

Outwardly, Danielle showed no emotion, but on the inside, she was bombarded with memories.

_**Flashback**_

"What_is that on your head?" _

"_My helmet?" He asked with a smile. "It's a symbol of power, rank and is a representation of the symbol of myself." _

"_So you're horned, like the Horned Lizard?" She teased as he took the silly thing off. _

"_I prefer to think of it as a graceful elk." He replied, placing the oddity on her head. "It suits you, my dear." _

"_Really?" _

"_Of course, though I must say, it looks much more magnanimous on me." He snapped his fingers and it appeared, once more, on his head. _

"_My graceful elk," She whispered, her fingers tracing his lips. She hummed at the sound of it and smiled, "Yes, it suits you quite nicely." _

_**End Flashback**_

"He's already killed several guards and a scientist," Nat said from the front of the jet. "Be careful guys."

"What is _he_ doing?" Alex's worried voice turned their attention back to the unfolding scene. Among all the kneeling people, one elder man was standing, challenging Loki.

"Steve," Jamie said, not even realizing she had not called him by his 'politically correct' name. "We have to get down there-" Loki leveled his scepter to the man's chest. "Like now!"

The hatch opened and Steve literally fell out, landing in front of the man and deflecting a death blast with his shield. Natasha dropped them off on the roof of the museum Loki had come from and they swiftly made it to a field of panic. People were running, Steve was fighting, Loki was firing death rays, etc.

In the middle of the chaos, Loki had thrown Steve aside, so the Legends took their turn at him. Jamie took a punch to his face, but his scepter knocked her away and into Steve when she tried again. Alex tripped him, but he used his legs to bring her to the ground, then pinned her just like he and Danielle had done playfully what seemed like years ago. He held the scepter to her neck and prepared to behead her when Danielle ran to him, grabbed his collar and flipped over him, dragging him over her friend and sending him to the ground.

He, as he stood, swept his scepter up and gave her a cut from her temple to her jaw. She cried in surprise and pain and clutched the side of her face. The wound she had received on her forehead stung as it had been glancing at her hand, she found it baring her blood.

"_Danielle?" _She suddenly felt strong hands holding her face and looked up to see Loki's brilliant green eyes staring back at her. "Danielle, what are you doing here?" He whispered.

She became emotionless aside from shock. Forcefully, she hissed, "Get. Away."

Alex came out of nowhere and punched him to the ground, "You alright?"

"Fine," She said forcefully. "Perfectly fine."

Rock music began to blast from the helicopter and none other than Tony Stark swooped in, blasting Loki, who had just begun to stand once more, to the ground. He landed and held his blasters to the fallen King of Mischief. "Make your move Reindeer Games."

Loki raised his hands, his helmet and armor fading.

"Good move," Tony turned to the girls. "Hey Perseph, Arty, Hestia!" He slapped her on the back. "Long time, no see!"

Danielle cast a glance to Loki, then muttered, "Get me the heck out of here."

* * *

It was _tense_ as they flew home in the jet. Loki never took his eyes off of Danielle who was between Alex and Jamie with Stark and Steve standing in front of them. She held a cool cloth to her some what less bleeding face.

"You're going to see Athena."

"Sure,"

"You're going to get that looked at."

"Whatever,"

"You might have to get stitches."

"No."

"But you-"

"Niet."

"You're going to-"

"Nien."

"We just-"

"Nie."

"Athena would-"

"What language do I have to say it in to get my point across?"

After things quieted down, Alex tried again in Romanian, "I heard what Loki said to you. He _knows _you. How?"

"That's a tale for another time-"

"No, it's not." Alex interrupted. "How do you know him?"

"He was a friend," Danielle admitted. "But not anymore. He hurt me. I hate him."

Alex nodded, "You're true to us?"

"You would even think I wouldn't be?" Alex smiled apologetically, but she never let the idea slip from her mind that Danielle knew the fugitive.

Thunder rumbled and while the others were wrapped up in the lightening and Agent Romanoff's foreboding comment of 'where did this come from?' Loki and Danielle locked eyes. She could feel his fear. He looked away and peered almost frightfully at the ceiling.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked, slightly angry form his discussion with Stark. "Scared of a little lightening?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

_Thud!_ The jet jolted and the second it leveled, the girls were out of their seats, guns ready.

Danielle knew who had decided to join the party.

Stark opened the hatch. "_What_ are you _doing?"_ Jamie exclaimed.

A man in silver armor and a billowing red cape with a hammer landed upon the hatch and she felt her breath hitch. Numb, Danielle found herself standing in surprise along with Alex and Jamie.

She stole a glance at Loki and the raw and seldom displayed fear on his face made her cringe.

Thor pushed Stark into Steve and Jamie with his hammer and he knocked over the safety box (among other things) which knocked Alex to the floor unconscious.

Danielle had to decide then and there whether she would let them go and perhaps never have to worry about Loki again, or go after him and attempt to ensure he can do no further damage to the world or her friends. With a sigh, she took a leap of faith and grabbed hold of Loki, who held on to her as though she would vanish if he loosened his grip even a little bit.

The air was thin, yet in a matter of seconds it bombarded her. She felt his grip relax and hit the ground hard, skidding to a halt that left her eyes drooping closed as pain overwhelmed her.

"_And now there's that guy."_ Stark muttered.

"Another Asgardian?" Nat called from up front.

"That guy's a friendly?" Steve asked, bewildered.

"Doesn't matter," Stark said logically. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Tony, Cap," Jamie called. "They took Hestia, I have to stay here for Artemis, but bring her back safe."

Steve kissed her hand, "You have my word, Persephone. Stark! We need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack." He rudely elected to fly out and leave Steve behind even after witnessing his promise to Jamie, which only darkened the relationship between him and The Legends.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap. These guys come from legends, they're basically gods." Nat suggested.

He looked to Jamie and smiled reassuringly, "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Then with a nod and calming smile to Jamie, he jumped out.

* * *

"You love her."

Danielle's groggy mind slowly came back to reality. She could feel a hand upon her face where the wound Loki had give her was as well as another on her shoulder where Barton had shot her. There was a slight tingling sensation there, almost as though her shoulder and her face had fallen asleep.

"Do not be ridiculous, she is a mortal. She means nothing."

"Then why heal her?"

_Yes,_ she thought, realizing that that must be why his hands were on her wounds. _Why, indeed? _

"You asked for the Tesseract, brother? I don't have it." He was roughly pulled away. "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off, I now not where."

She looked up. Was it her imagination or was a star headed straight towards them?

"You listen well, brother, I—omph!"

Tony Stark just knocked Thor off a cliff.

"I'm listening."

She breathed a quiet, pained laugh and groaned as she pushed herself off of her stomach and on to her back. She felt a gentle, wary hand upon her face and peeled open her eyes. "What are you doing, Loki?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.

"I'm doing this for you, so you could be happy—so we could be happy." He murmured.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really seeing how this equals happiness."

He chuckled, "It will, my love. I swear it."

"But what if I don't want whatever you're doing?" She whispered. "What if I'm happy just in our little cabin in our heads?" She paused. Why did she have to get stuck with him? She felt that this conversation was on repeat and hated that Loki was an opinionated romantic which meant that despite his own intentions being apparent, he claimed that this was all for her. "It's because of your anger. Please, I beg of you—enough."

"You know not what you speak of," He muttered and with a wave of his hand, she fell into a painless sleep.

* * *

"Remind me to murder Stark when you get back," Coulson said through Alex's ear piece as Jamie went through Chelsea's checklist of the well-being of her friend.

"It wasn't his fault," She said halfheartedly, wincing as cold ice was pressed to her forehead. "He couldn't have predicted Goldilocks-"

"Thor,"

"Thor would have come in guns a blazing."

"Still..."

"Hey, I'm not stopping you,"

He laughed, "Alright, Alex, be careful. I'll see you in the infirmary when you get in. Do you four have to be danger prone?"

"I'd be concerned if we weren't. See you in ten."

* * *

"This isn't possible."

"We were all there, we all saw it."

"He even looked upset when he gave it to you."

"Well, it's not there now, and neither is my bullet wound or the cut on my forehead so I, therefore, do not need to be checked in by you two."

Dr. Bruce Banner watched the Legends argue amongst themselves as sisters would in the lab where he and Athena had been working all day. "Artemis and Persephone are getting checked out, which means you do, too." Chelsea said. "And if not for injuries, then for gamma levels."

"You guys are so-" They froze and peered out the window, for walking past it with a dark smirk on his face was Loki.

Swift as a robin, Danielle shut the shades and stared at the blank folds. Her heart and head conflicted and confused.

"I hate that guy."


	6. Winter Winds

**I only own my OCs, enjoy and review? ~A Keeper**

**"And my head told my heart: 'let love grow,' but my heart told my head: 'this time no, this time no.'" Winter Winds, Mumford and Sons**

* * *

"And then to be reminded what real power is." Jamie locked eyes with the man in the footage and felt a shiver run down her spine. She glanced up and caught Steve's eyes, a brief look of worry. He offered a smile of comfort and turned off the video.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked, taking Jamie's hand under the table. She couldn't say how much that meant to her with words, but she was deeply grateful for his comfort. It seemed like Steve was the only one, aside from the girls, who knew how to comfort and support someone who was in the middle of freaking out.

"He has an army called the chitauri. They're not of Asgard nor any known world. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." The burly man said.

"An army," Steve muttered. "From outer space."

"Peachy."

Jamie and Steve were sitting beside each other at the table while Danielle was opposite them. Thor was standing to the right of Danielle and Alex was standing in the corner, silent as ever. Chelsea was sitting beside Jamie and Dr. Banner was standing behind her, a hand on her chair.

"So he's building another portal," Banner said. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor questioned.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend,"

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Nat explained. "Along with one of our own."

Chelsea tried hard not to snort. Nat had been hinting at her depression not at all subtly since news came about Barton's betrayal and it was getting rather annoying. She supposed it was also because of the small detail that Barton had been ogling at her when she first began to work for SHIELD, which made Nat jealous and strained their relationship. She had a feeling that if she was ever in trouble, the Russian wouldn't hesitate to call it an accident and watch what happens.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here." Jamie went to agree with him, when Banner spoke up.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki, that guy's brain is full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." Chelsea nodded.

"Have care with your words," Danielle interrupted, staring blankly outside the dark window.

"Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother." Thor sided with Danielle.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Nat added, much to many people's annoyance.

"He's adopted."

"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce said.

"Iridium," Chelsea picked up on his thought. "What do they need iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony Stark said, entering the room with Coulson who smiled at Alex. She returned a brilliant smile. The billionaire turned to Coulson. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend, I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive."

Coulson went to stand by Alex whose face fell and resumed an emotionless stance. Why was the cellist such a big deal? Why had Phil not told her about them, but had told Stark and Pepper? They had been friends for as long as she worked at SHIELD, didn't that mean anything to him?

"Which means it can stay open as long and as wide as Loki wants." Chelsea deduced.

"That is correct, Dr. Marx, right?" He looked out over the bridge as he strolled around the main control area. She rolled her eyes. So much for a secret identity. Tony proceeded to say, "Raise the mizzenmast, jib the topsails." The SHIELD agents who were working on the monitors below looked up at him as though to wordlessly say, 'no.' "That man is playing galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice but we did. How does Fury even see these?" He gestured to the mechanisms around him after removing some of the tension.

"He turns," Danielle replied dully, as though it was obvious.

"Sounds exhausting," He hit the bridge once, then bounced through the settings. "The rest of the raw materials should be easy to find. The only major missing component is a power source of a high-energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

Tony spied Bruce and his eyes light up, he came over to the scientist and shook his hand, "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into a giant green raging monster."

"Thanks."

"He is only here to locate the cube," Director Fury said. "I was hoping you might join him and Dr. Marx."

"I would start with that stick of his," Steve suggested. "It might be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

Danielle heard Jamie whisper to Alex, "That's what she said." She couldn't help the corners of her mouth curving into a smile ever so slightly.

"I would like to know," Fury said, eyeing the girls with concealed amusement. "How Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his own personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asked. "I do not understand-"

"I do!" Steve exclaimed happily. He looked around to find Jamie smiling comfortingly. She cast a look to Danielle, Chelsea and Alex with pleading eyes asking, 'can I keep him?' "I...I understood that reference."

Tony promptly ignored him and said, "Shall we play, Doctor...s?"

Dr. Chelsea Marx ran a hand over her face and stifled a yawn. "The gamma readings on the scepter are consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract." She told Banner, placing her glasses back on her nose.

"But it's going to take weeks to process," Tony added, toying with some device. "If we bypass their mainframe, and direct route to the Homer Cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops."

"All I packed was a toothbrush," Banner murmured, then looked to Chelsea. "Dr. Marx, are you alright? Maybe you should take the hour off and get some sleep."

"I'm fine, I assure you. I'm a medical doctor as much as I am a scientist, Dr. Banner."

"I thought I told you to call me Bruce,"

"You two are adorable," Tony interrupted. "You know, you should come by Stark Tower some time, both of you. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candyland." She glared at him, which made him flinch and made her grateful that Danielle had taught her what had been so lovingly dubbed, 'The Bat-Glare.'

"Thanks," He said, bringing up a chair and easing Chelsea into it by the table so she could continue. "But last time I was in New York, I kind of...broke Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment," Says Tony Stark. "No tension, no surprise," He stabbed Bruce with a stupid pokey object just as Steve and Jamie walked in, simultaneously shouting. "Hey!" Chelsea was wide awake now and promptly whacked Stark on the back of his head with a book.

"Nothing?" Stark asked, sounding almost disappointed as he rubbed his throbbing head.

"Are you nuts?!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Jury's out," Tony said nonchalantly. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked, calm, yet clearly upset.

"Funny things are."

"How is threatening the safety of everyone on this ship funny?" Jamie asked. "Oh, no offense, Doctor."

"It's alright, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Bruce smiled reassuringly at Chelsea who was holding the book poised to strike again. She lowered it and let it fall to the table, returning to her work with a frustrated and annoyed expression.

"You're tiptoeing, big man, you need to strut."

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve said. Tony went to his bag and took out a silver bag of blueberries which he began to eat out of. Chelsea would have told him to put it away, but in all honesty, she just wanted to get their job done with so she can spend a nice night asleep.

Jamie whispered to Chelsea, "He needs to shut his cake hole, too. Jerk."

"Watching Supernatural, are we?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Do you think I'm not?" He questioned. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables," Tony said. Bruce winced, but returned to his work.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve cast a glance to Jamie, but she didn't respond.

"He's a spy," Tony said, then emphasized. "Captain, he's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him, too, isn't it?"

"Uh..." Banner stammered. He shook his head and gestured to the scepter. "I just want to finish my work here and..."

"Bruce?"

He looked up and met Chelsea's pleading eyes, then sighed, "'A warm light for all mankind,' Loki's jab about the cube. I think he intended that for you." He gestured to Tony who offered him a blueberry which he accepted. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big, ugly-" Jamie jabbed him. "Building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what? A year?"

"It's just a prototype." He turned to Steve to brag. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at?"

If Steve weren't in there, Jamie would've ran out ages ago. Though what they said was interesting at some points, it was also boring at others and usually ended (or began) with an argument.

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" He glanced towards Chelsea who was looking at her feet in thought.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."

Jamie shook her head, "You are incredibly lucky, Mr. Stark, that the Legends are currently forming their own hypotheses against SHIELD. If not, you can be darn well sure that we'd make you disappear."

"Gladly noted," He replied.

"I'm sorry, did you say-"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge." Stark interrupted. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has tried to hide. Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused as to why they don't want you around,"

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

"Gee, thanks."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve replied firmly. "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following's not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Jamie snorted; Steve might have been out of it for a few decades, but he could certainly burn Tony Stark's arse any day of the week.

"Of the people in this room, who is A, wearing a spangly outfit and B, not of use?"

She glared daggers at him.

"Steve, tell me this doesn't smell funky to you," Chelsea said. Jamie looked to her friend and smiled. She agreed with Chelsea and the others, now she just had to get Steve to see it, too.

He thought a moment, then left, hurt and angry. "Just find the cube." As Jamie followed, she whacked Tony and stole his blueberry bag.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?"

"Oh, can it, Tony, you're just upset because he burned your ego." Chelsea snapped.

Bruce eyed her, unsure as to if he should smile at the hilarity of the situation or cringe at her angry side. "Well, the guy's not wrong," He said as he returned to his work. He kept an eye on Chelsea who became silent and every now and again rubbed her eyes or stretched. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an acme dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face and I'm going to be there when it does." Tony said with glee.

"And I'll read all about it."

Tony caught Bruce's glance towards Chelsea who had found a comfortable position in her swivel chair and fallen asleep. He smiled deviously, "Uh-huh, or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us."

Bruce laughed, "You see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed; like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This," He tapped the arc reactor in his chest. "Stops it." He nodded to Chelsea. "What do you suppose is eating at her? Or all the Legends for that matter? They got dirt, too, and I plan on finding all about it when the decryption is done. I'd show you if you wanted a peek-"

"It wouldn't be right," He was gruff and firm. Nothing was going to change his mind.

Tony shrugged and brushed away the tabs on the screen so he could talk to Banner face to face. "I read all about your 'accident,' that much gamma radiation should have killed you."

"So you're saying the Hulk..." He sighed and looked away. "The other guy saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved me for what?"

Tony stole a quick glance at Chelsea, but Banner caught it. "I guess we'll find out."


	7. Boston

**I only own my OCs, let's go! ~A Keeper **

** "She said, you don't know me, you don't even care...you don't know me, you don't wear my chains." -Boston, Augustana**

* * *

"I have to know for myself what they're up to and the computer is a little slow." Steve said as they came to a door, he took hold of it and after about a thirty second struggle, he broke the door and pushed it aside.

"You know, I have clearance access here, I could've opened the door for you." He shot her a glare which dissolved into a blush.

They looked around, saw no one, entered, then heard two voices above them. Steve grabbed Jamie's hand and pulled her under the catwalk, watching as the two men left through an alternative exit. "You're awfully light on your feet." He told her.

"Um, thanks?" She said. Was that a compliment? Knowing Steve, it probably was. He could never insult a woman without apologizing for it after.

"Have you been in here before?" He asked, lifting her up to grasp the railing and pull herself on to the catwalk. He jumped up to follow her. "Do you know what we're going to see?"

"No," She shook her head. "I might have the appropriate clearance level, but that doesn't mean I involve myself with everything SHIELD deals with."

"Hey, watch your-"

"Whoa!" Jamie's left foot came upon a rusty panel which everyone who worked in the room knew to step over. Her foot went through and she thought for sure that she'd fall through when strong arms gripped her from behind and pulled her up to safety, holding her tight.

"You'd think SHIELD would have the money to replace something like that." She muttered, then realized that Captain America was holding her. She blushed, "Oh, thank you, Captain."

"We, uh, we should go."

"Uh-huh."

* * *

Alex stared at the gorgeous picture of Jane Foster while Coulson spoke to Thor. Jane Foster was indescribably beautiful and she envied the scientist for the free time she had to apply makeup and make her hair look nice even though she didn't need any of that to look beautiful. SHIELD agents didn't need make up unless they were in Nat's department. She scowled. She hadn't actually talked to Coulson since he threatened to murder Stark. In truth, she was avoiding him. The only thought going through her mind was, _"Who was the cellist?"_

"Something bothering you, Knicks?" She was startled, not only by Coulson's sudden appearance, but by the use of her normal nickname.

She, for about a month, had been obsessed with Madagascar and had introduced herself as, 'Alex, _icks_, like New York _Knicks._" So Coulson had started calling her that.

"No," She replied quickly. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"None of your business."

"Aw, come on," He said with a kinky smile. "You know you can't hide anything from me." He came behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then began to massage vigorously, yet perfectly.

She closed her eyes, "Are you trying to bribe me?"

"That depends on whether or not it works."

She chuckled, "You're going to think it's stupid."

"Maybe, but if it means so much to you, it can't be _that_ stupid."

"Thanks," With a roll of her eyes, she muttered, "The cellist."

Coulson tensed, then laughed quietly.

"You see? I told you!" She pulled away from his touch and headed for whatever exit was closest.

"No, Artemis, wait!" He grabbed her hand and spun her to look at him. "It's not stupid, it's you."

"What?"

"The cellist, it was code for you."

"You're kidding, aren't you?"

"No, I'm dead serious," He said with a knowing smile.

"Why 'the cellist'?"

"Do you remember when we were in Greece and we saw that statue of Apollo? I was trying to find the right word for 'lyre' and came out with cello? Apollo's twin sister is-"

"Artemis," Alex smiled, took his face between her hands and kissed him full on the lips. "You stupid, intelligent agent."

Upon leaving, Maria Hill took a stand beside him, "You know, you got incredibly lucky with that story."

"I know."

"But you're over the cellist?"

"The one from Portland? Yes." He smiled. "You're not going to blackmail me with that, are you?"

"I don't know," She replied in a singsong voice.

* * *

Loki paced, stopped, then smiled. "There's not many people who can sneak up on me."

"But you knew I'd come," Natasha Romanoff said.

"I knew," He said. "But in truth, I had hoped someone else would come."

"And who would that be?"

He ignored her, "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm." He interpreted her being there. "And I would cooperate."

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton," She challenged. "And whoever has stolen your interest."

"I would say that I have expanded his mind," He replied innocently. "As for my person of interest? You shall have to learn of them yourself."

She smiled, feigning annoyance. "And after you've won, once your king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" She approached his cage. "And don't you need a queen to rule beside you?"

"Oh," Loki said, whether or not he was surprised, only God knew. "Is this love, Agent Romanoff? Are you asking for a position beside me?"

"Love is for children, I owe him a debt." She laughed and he raised an eyebrow. "Do not even consider me speaking of becoming _your_ queen."

"Tell me."

He sat on his bed, awaiting her explanation. She took a seat. "Before I worked for SHIELD, I...well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skills set, I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton and Hestia were sent to kill me...they made a different call."

Loki nodded, almost understandingly, "And, what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

"Not let you out-"

"No, but I like this. Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man."

"Regimes fall every day, I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or was." She said nonchalantly. "But, I could provide you with anything you wished to know about your POI. Her birth place, her favorite color...her current location."

He shook his head, the hidden temptation overwhelming, though contained. "That is what you were, what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated." She stood. "I got red on my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you?" He asked, standing as well. "Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, Sao Paolo, the hospital fire?" Her eyes widened. "Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic!

_"You lie and kill,_

* * *

"What is that?" Chelsea asked as a screen blinked red.

"It's what Fury's been hiding." Tony replied victoriously.

She read over the files and her eyes widened slowly.

* * *

_"In the service of liars and killers,_

* * *

"What's going on?" Alex asked Maria. Coulson was holding her hand, not wanting to lose her in the chaos.

"Security breach," She said quickly. Alex locked eyes with Fury, sent a reassuring look to Phil, then ran.

* * *

_"You pretend to be separate, to have your own code. Something to make up for the horrors, but they are apart of you and they will __never go away."_

* * *

Steve opened the box and Jamie gasped, in shock. "Oh, Steve, I...I didn't know. Oh, Lord, what have they done?"

* * *

Loki slammed his fist against the glass. "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately. In every way he knows you fear and then he'll wake up just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his skull." Natasha turned away and gasped. "That is my bargain, you mewling quim."

Nat sniffled, "You're a monster."

Loki chuckled, "Oh, no, you brought the monster."

She turned around, perfectly fine. "So, Banner. That's your play."

"What?"

Nat raised a hand to her comm, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way; send Thor and the Legends as well." As she left, she paused and turned to him. "Thank you for your cooperation. Oh, and stay away from her."

* * *

"Does that make me a child, Loki?" The man's eyes widened. He turned and met Danielle's eyes. "I loved you, and since love is a sentiment, a childish desire, pathetic, what does that make me?" Her face was red with tears. She placed her hand on the glass. "I guess, it just must not have ever existed, right?"

He placed his hand against the glass, against hers. "Danielle, I was acting. I did not-"

"You did not think I was here." She whispered. She blinked and a tear ran down her cheek. "I can't win. If you succeed, I can not be with you knowing that you murdered the people who are my family. If they win, you will be taken from me. You could not be mine even if you loved me."

"You must believe me, I do." He was begging.

"I wish I could." She kissed her palm and pressed it to the glass. "But why me? I'm mortal. I am no different from Romanoff."

"Because when I was cast out, you accepted me. You could see through the monster."

"Strange," She murmured, stepping away. "Because now, all I see are monsters."

Fury entered the lab, angry as heck. "What are you doing, Stark?"

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same about you."

He turned to Banner and Chelsea, "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract, both of you. Marx, this could cost you everything."

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed, walking in alone and taking a stand by her friend. "No one threatens her like that but me."

"We are," Chelsea replied. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah," Tony added, throwing his two cents in. "Then you get your cube back. No muss, no fuss. What is 'Phase 2'?"

Chelsea and Alex jumped when Steve slammed down a HYDRA weapon and Jamie came in, standing beside the girls. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for us."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn't mean we're making-"

"I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" Tony displayed a virtual 'How To Destroy The World' manual.

"I was wrong, Director," Steve said. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Thor, Nat and Danielle came in. The Legends stood together.

"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Nat.

"You want to think about removing yourself form this environment, Doctor?"

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." He challenged. He was getting angry.

"Loki is manipulating you-"

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you," Nat said. "Or because Dr. Marx was there to help me."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Chelsea's heart pounded, why was she so afraid of the thing inside the man she cared deeply about? "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury sighed and pointed at Thor, "Because of him."

"Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, we are hopelessly, hilariously, out-gunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet,"

"But you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, who can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?"

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it and his allies. It is a signal to all realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?"

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something-"

"A nuclear deterrent, because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-"

"Hold on, how is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this."

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

"You treat your champions with such mistrust,"

"Are you boys really that naïve? SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Captain America's on threat watch?"

"We all are,"

"Wait, you're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?"

"Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack-"

"Threat! Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"

"Show some respect,"

"Respect what?"

It was almost comical, the way they were arguing and if this kept up, the world should be afraid of what was to come. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Why were they acting like such children?

Ten minutes later.

"You speak of control," Thor said. "Yet you court chaos."

"That's his M.O., isn't it?" Banner questioned. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, we're a chemical mixture. We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury said. The Legends left their amused, silent positions and began to think of possible exits, possible scenarios and possible results as it became more and more obvious that Dr. Banner was getting angry.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark placed a hand on Steve's shoulder but he knocked it away.

"You know why, back off!"

"I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

Steve glared down at him, "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself." Jamie took a step forward—couldn't Steve see the hurt in Tony's eyes? "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Things were dreadfully quiet.

"I think I'd just cut the wire."

"Always a way out," He tsked. "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."  
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Stark," Jamie exclaimed, "He's not the only laboratory experiment, but he's the best. He doesn't need the bottle to be special." She stormed out.

Steven took a step towards the door, perhaps planning on calling her name, but Alex shook her head disapprovingly at the both of them before leaving. Not only were the men getting flustered and angry and not working together, their emotions were spilling into The Legends.

Steve looked like he wanted to go after her, but he faced Tony. "Put on the suit; let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughed, "You people are so petty. And tiny."

"Yeah, this is a team." Danielle muttered.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where?" He challenged. "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-"

"Just in case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I've tried." He exclaimed.

Chelsea's eyes widened, "Bruce?"

He now looked ashamed. "I got low. I didn't see an end; so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping people, I was good. Until you dragged me back to this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

"Dr. Banner-" Danielle said worriedly.

"Bruce," Chelsea interrupted, taking his hand. "Put the scepter down."

He looked down in surprise, his face lingered with anger, but he was calm. The computer beeped. He locked eyes with Chelsea and exhaled as though he had used a sudden ton of energy. Chelsea caught him, eased him into a chair and set the scepter back in its place. "Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick," He muttered, bringing up the results of the Tesseract location.

"You located it?" Steve asked.

"I could get there fastest-"

"It belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor interrupted.

Tony was adamant, Steve wasn't happy. "You're not going alone." Tony hit his hand away.

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man-"

"Put on the suit."

"Oh, my gosh," Bruce whispered.

A sudden explosion ripped through, shattering glass, equipment and sending people everywhere.

Nat, Chelsea and Bruce fell through and landed on the deck below. Danielle was somewhere near Thor, trying to get clear her mind which was probably close to receiving a concussion sometime soon. She felt something sharp pushing into her side, but she pulled away and ignored it upon hearing Steve say, likely to Tony, "Put on the suit."


	8. Clocks

**"Am I apart of the cure, or apart of the disease?" -Clocks, Coldplay**

* * *

Alex and Jamie had been tossed against the wall, the air knocked from their lungs and their bodies tossed on to the floor like rag dolls. They laid there for a moment, trying to pull back strength and breathe before they climbed up and made a mad dash back to the lab.

Upon turning a blind corner, both girls ran into someone. One of them swore explosively and they suddenly knew who they had run into. "Steve, what happened?"

"Tony, watch your mouth."

"Engine three exploded, we're under attack."

"_You_ watch _your_ mouth-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Alex interrupted. "Where's Athena and Hestia?"

Both men looked at each other.

"You left them behind?!"

"We don't have time for this," Jamie added wisely. "Go on, try to find them, Coulson, too. I'll go with Steve, we gotta see if we can get that engine online, we can't afford to lose another."

"Right, be careful you three."

"You, too."

* * *

Dr. Bruce Banner lay writhing on the ground, wrestling with an invisible force. Chelsea glanced over at Natasha Romanoff who was currently unconscious under a metal beam. Her ankle was killing her, but she had to put that aside—there were bigger matters at stake.

"Dr. Banner?" She pleaded, tears in her eyes. "Dr. Banner? Bruce?! Bruce, please! You got to fight it, you have to! Please..." Clearly this tactic wasn't going to work. "We're going to get out of this, just listen to me, please."

Some men came running towards them, "Are you hurt?"

As much as she wanted to be taken away, she knew she was the only one who would be able to stop the Hulk. She shooed them away.

"We're going to be just fine, alright? I promise. I swear on my life, I will get you out of this-"

"Your life," He whispered. "Your life!"

He turned green.

She stood, shoving the pain aside, she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Bruce." With a cry, she began to run as fast as a limp would allow her in her choice to flee likely death.

Wait, Nat was-

Shivic.

Bruce had crawled away into a corner and she knew she had only a few seconds to get this right. She shoved the beam aside and dragged Nat between machines where she prayed the Hulk would not notice a limp body where he would have a live one.

She locked eyes with the beast and he looked almost sorry...then rabid.

She ran as she had never ran before, up the stairs which were promptly ripped away; with a jump and a swing only years of gymnastics could teach, she was on the catwalk, pulling herself between two machines and on to another catwalk while the sound of destruction followed close behind.

* * *

Steve opened the door and they ran outside. The second Jamie ran out, she squealed, skidded to a stop, then fought the urge to run back in. there was no railing—below her was thousands of feet of air and water.

"Stark," Steve said into the comm. "Stark, I'm here."

"Good," Tony said (through their comms.) "Let's see what we've got." He went on a scientific monologue.

During that, Steve gave Jamie a once over. "Are you alright, Miss Persephone?" He asked. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"I just might," She muttered. Stupid acrophobia. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

"I trust you," He said calmly. He placed a gloved hand against her cheek and she nodded. "You can do great things, just forget the fear."

"Alright, you turtledoves, I need you to get to the engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position."

He located the panel, then looked to her. "We're going to have to jump."

She paled, swallowed quickly, then nodded.

"Just mimic my moves and you'll be fine." He ran, jumped, grabbed a pipe and swung on to a high platform.

A million thoughts raced through her mind, but she decided to focus on one and made the jump and swing. Expecting the platform, she found only air. The air escaped from her lungs and she thought about Danielle, Chelsea and Alex who would attend her funeral irrationally blaming themselves for her death. She felt as though she would fall forever when something grabbed her arm and pulled her on to a solid surface.

She looked up into the warm eyes of Captain Steve Rogers. She hadn't even realized that she was crying until he brushed away her tears.

"See? You're alright, I promise I won't let anything happen to you, you're alright now."

"Find the panel," She gasped and they pulled out the stupid engine panel.

"What does it look like in there?" Stark asked.

"It seems to be running on some form of electricity."

She sighed and heard Tony mutter, "You're not wrong."

* * *

Chelsea looked around furiously, trying to locate the massive green beast. She wiped away the tears and took a breath of relief, though that was the moment when she realized how much her ankle was killing her. She wouldn't be able to be of much use running or doing physical work after this for a long while. Thank God she went through eight years of gymnastics. She backed up, trying to take in as much air as possible. She heard loud footsteps and pulled out the precautionary gun that she carried. She looked around and suddenly locked eyes with it.

The Hulk roared and she shot blindly, hitting the pipe above his head and spraying gas into his face. She ran, as well as she could, through the glass hallway, shattering echoing behind her.

She felt her foot give way and her weary, numb body hit a wall.

She couldn't stand, merely stare into the face of her death as it approached her. "Bruce?" She whispered, but there was no Bruce Banner left to speak with.

There was a loud crash and suddenly, the Hulk was no longer standing before her—Thor had saved her life.

She was panting, splotches of black color distorting her vision until she finally succumbed to sleep and relief.

* * *

"Stark," Jamie said. "The relays are intact, what's our next move?"

"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump start. I'm going to have to get in them and push."

"If that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded." Steve pointed out.

"That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-"

"Speak English!" The pair exclaimed in unison.

"See that red lever?" Stark asked as though he was speaking to children. "It will slow down the rotors long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

Steve lead her across a rather thin beam to another section where the red lever was. They reached it and waited.

They were catching their breath when Steve spotted two men; one held a grenade and threw it towards the rotor, yet the Captain intercepted it and tackled one man while Jamie moved to join him.

He tossed his man over and grabbed the discarded gun which he proceeded to fire at the oncoming attackers. He seemed overwhelmed, yet yelled to Jamie, "No, you gotta be ready for Stark!"

Reluctantly, she nodded and headed back. Tony had started moving the rotor with shear strength. One of Steve's attackers shot at her, she ducked and took a step back only to hit a lose grate and slip. "STEVE!" She screeched as she fell, only barely grabbing on to a wire. She couldn't see anyone and she could barely keep up enough strength just to hold on.

* * *

Danielle had ran into the hall when she felt sure enough of herself to find the world tilting, metal screaming and people dying; yet she knew she had to get to Loki's cell. She ran into Alex along the way and without question, she knew where they were going and knew that she was in the right in trying to get there. If she couldn't be with him, she certainly wouldn't let him take her home in the divorce.

"I thought you might come," His dark voice came like a whisper, though he was speaking normally.

Loki passed a hand over Alex's face and she fell asleep quickly. He was standing behind her, his trained hands finding the places only he knew she loved. "Now the question is," He whispered, his words dancing across her flesh teasingly. "Why did you come if you say you can not be with me?"

"I don't know." She replied firmly, she couldn't lose herself. Not now.

"I think you do," He murmured, his voice nearly a moan. "I think you _want_ me, you _need_ me. And you know it. You're frightened because you know your friends will lose and you don't wish for them to see what we are; what we can _be._"

"No," She said halfheartedly, her eyes fluttering closed as his fingers danced across her body seductively and she swallowed her pleasure, determined not to let him taint her thoughts.

"But you've been through so much, my love. You've done so much. Now, you have time to rest, settle down, have the family you've always wanted. You could be happy..."

He cupped her chin and turned her face gently towards him, encasing her lips with his in a soft pattern that grew steadily more aggressive. She felt the cool metal of machinery at her back and the light tug of his fingers through her hair as he displayed his affection to her.

They could hear footsteps.

Looking up, Loki looked annoyed at the interruption, "Stay hidden, but watch, I guarantee it will be amusing."

He generated a likeness of himself leaving his cell just as Thor ran in, tackled Loki's image without thinking and ended up enclosed in the cell.

Loki looked at him confused, "Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

A conflicted Danielle suddenly felt something warm and wet running down her side. Her brows furrowed and she glanced down, her eyes widened. It hurt.

Suddenly, her vision became fuzzy and she gripped the wall for support. How long had she had that wound? How much blood had she lost?

Loki's voice came through her chaos, "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" She had to get to him. He would be able to help her.

"Loki," She whispered, then fell beside a stirring Alex. Just play along, Jones, you can do this...you can...

* * *

Alex peeled open her eyes at the sound of a familiar voice saying, "Move away, please."

_Phil?_

She looked up and saw Loki raise his arms to surrender and then looked beside her, finding a bleeding and unconscious Danielle beside her. Loki must've gotten to her. The blood from her side was too great to leave no affect...oh, God, no! Not Danielle! She looked to Phil who was holding a massive weapon, tears in her eyes. He saw her pain, but saved his comforting words for later, he had a job to fulfill, and though he knew this would hurt her, it had to be done. "You like this?" He asked Loki. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He hit the power button. "Do you want to find out?"

She heard him gasp and saw the glimmer of blood.

By the time he was slumped against the wall, she was sobbing beside him, holding him tight. "No, no, no, no! Phil, don't do this to me. You can't do this to me!"

There was a loud _whoosh!_ And suddenly the room seemed a lot bigger. Loki was too preoccupied with Danielle to care about them.

"Alexandra, I love you." He whispered. He took her hand, wiped away her tears and looked to Loki. "You're going to lose."

"Am I?" He asked, picking up Danielle bridal-style and then handing her over to one of his henchmen.

"It's your nature."

"Hmm," he was incredibly intimidating. "Your heroes are scattered. You're floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

Alex smiled weakly, squeezing his hand tight. Loki came towards her, his weapon raised to strike and to kill, saying, "I don't think-" but he could not finish. Coulson shot him with the weapon he held loosely.

"So that's what it does."

* * *

"Cap, hit the lever."

"We need a minute!" Jamie shouted.

"Lever, now!"

Jamie pushed aside all previous fear and began to climb back towards the ship when she saw a flash of blue, heard a curse after a swift red light fell from the rotor before she was handed to safety once more by Steve.

* * *

Loki laid Danielle across the seat in the jet they had stolen and examined her completely. "Oh, my dear one," He whispered. "I am so sorry."

He placed his hand on her wound and muttered the words that would heal her, only to come away with a bloodied hand. She wasn't healed. He stared at it in surprise, his magic had worked before, why not now?

"I promise," He whispered. "That I will make this up to you. We will live happily together just like in all those stories you told me. I will make you a queen to be loved and feared by everyone and you will be happy. You will."

* * *

Director Fury and Dr. Marx ran in to the cell room where they found a sobbing Alex and a dying Coulson. "Sorry, boss, the jerk jumped ship," He said weakly.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me." Was that attempted humor?

"No, I'm clocking out here."

"Not an option."

"Phil, please," Alex whimpered, clinging to Chelsea who could do nothing yet.

"I love you so much, Knicks," He said. "But you gotta let me go. It's laright, boss, this was never going to work if they didn't have something to...to..."

Flat line.

Agent down.


	9. Because of You

**"Because of you, I am afraid." -Because of You, Kelly Clarkson **

* * *

Alex stared blankly into space at the table. Chelsea sat beside her, sporting bruises from her encounter with the Hulk. She had been in the infirmary for the past few hours, having her ankle bandaged and cared for to the best of the medics abilities. She was seething with anger. Fury had not let her attempt to revive Coulson when she had the chance and she could have saved him. He could still be alive. Jamie was between Steve and Tony, her chin in her arms, tears in her eyes. There was no sign of Danielle.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said, tossing trading cards to Steve. Alex's brows furrowed, she didn't remember those being in his jacket. "I guess he never did get you to sign them. We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor, Hestia...I have nothing for you."

Steve picked up a blood-stained card and his face softened. "I lost my one good eye, maybe I had it coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though. I was playing something even riskier."

_The Avengers._

Not the Legends.

They had failed, but the Avengers? They still had a chance.

Tony stood silently, then walked away.

"Well," Fury muttered. "It was an old-fashioned notion."

* * *

Jamie found Steve and Tony in the cell room. Alex was hurting pretty bad and Chelsea was doing her best to comfort her. She was making sure they didn't do anything stupid...without her.

"Was he married?" Steve asked.

"No," Tony replied, refusing to look at him. "There was a cellist, I think." He shot a glance to Jamie who smiled faintly.

"I'm sorry," Steve said. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony nodded and scoffed, "He was an idiot."

"Tony!" Jamie growled from behind clenched teeth.

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job-"

"He was out of his league, he should've waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right, I've heard that before."

Steve's fist was clenched, but Jamie took his arm, looked into his eyes and told him without words not to get angry—not now. So he asked, "Is this the first time you lost a soldier?"

"We are _not_ soldiers." He sneered. He calmed down. "I'm not marching on Fury's life."

Steve cast a look to Jamie and she nodded, "Neither are we," He said, gesturing to them both. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki, but right now, we gotta put this aside and get this done. Loki needs a power source-"

Tony looked at the blood stain on the wall and suddenly interrupted, "He made it personal."

Steve sighed, "That's not the point-"

Jamie's eyes widened, "That is the point, that's Loki's point."

Tony nodded, "He hit us all right where we live, why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve injected himself into their conversation.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is...great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?"

"He wants to beat us," Jamie said. "He wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, we caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah, that was just the previews." Tony was pacing. "This is opening night, and Loki, he's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the sky with his name plastered..." They froze. Steve raised his eyebrows. "Son of a gun."

"We gotta go." Jamie murmured.

"Persephone, could you gather the Legends?" Tony asked. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Um..."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Athena has limited combat use, she's got a messed up ankle and she's helping with injuries and...Artemis is emotionally out of it, you saw that. Fury didn't say there, but based on videos and a report from Artemis, Hestia is dead or dying."

Tony's eyes widened and he swallowed. He had lost both of his babysitters in one day. Steve spoke up. "Get them anyway. We're going to need them and the least we can do is find Hestia's body, just to make sure."

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure, go!"

"Suit up."

* * *

Upon reaching Stark Tower, Chelsea decided to accompany Stark into the fort of Loki's madness. Jamie had come to them telling them everything about what had happened and how they were planning on attacking Loki and that they wanted and needed the assistance of the remaining Legends to ensure it went well. Chelsea knew that everyone had seen her ankle as a disadvantage, but she refused to accept that and accompanied Tony to the tower to see what she could do with her words and to look for Danielle if she was given the chance. She had to make sure Danielle stayed dead. She couldn't let the others live with the fact that Danielle betrayed them to Loki.

She had to kill her best friend.

She could see the evil man staring at them with a smile as they entered. "Stay here," He told her. "I'm going to try and stop Dr. Selvig."

There was a loud explosion and Tony joined her, explaining that he could not break through the field of protection that was guarding the cube; together, they walked in. Chelsea searched for Danielle, but could not find her.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said, approaching them. Chelsea hoped he couldn't sense her fear.

"Actually, we're planning on threatening you."

"Speak for yourself." She snapped under her breath.

"You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah, it's a bit mileage ad you've got the glow stick of destiny." Loki glanced at the weapon. "Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything."

Chelsea took a seat as Tony began mixing drinks. "No, no, threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The cihtauri are coming, nothing will change that." Loki gazed out of the window-wall thingy. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers, that's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team." Chelsea glared at him. "Oh, yeah, and The Legends, they're pretty pissed at you, too."

"Yes, I've met them."

Ton scoffed, "Yeah, it takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that. But let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demigod. A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend,"

Was he putting on bracelets behind the counter?

"A man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins, and a team of highly trained, deadly _women_, mind you, who have stopped world destruction before."

Darn it, how did he know about that?

"And you, big fella, have managed to tick off every single one of them."

He smiled darkly, "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan." He walked towards Loki. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off-"

"You're missing the point," She interrupted.

Tony continued for her. "There's no throne. There's no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you; because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be darn well sure we'll avenge it."

"How will your friends have time for me when they're too busy fighting you?" Loki placed his scepter against Tony's chest...nothing happened. Chelsea gripped the arms of the chair as she watched in shock and gratefulness. Loki looked confused and tried again. "This usually works."

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five-" Loki grabbed his throat, Chelsea stood up. He was thrown out the window. A machine followed him.

"Tony!" Loki's scepter shut her up. She couldn't afford to be concerned.

"You can not fight, why are you here?"

"For Hestia, I'm looking for my friend." She replied firmly; she very well couldn't tell him that she planned to kill her. Let him think that she's just searching for her friend.

Loki chuckled, smiling, "You think I'm holding her prisoner, how pathetic. She is here on her own accord and I intend to make her the queen she deserves to be and perhaps, you'll live long enough to see it."

Tony in his suit rose up. A feeling of hope returned and she grinned. "And there's one other person you've ticked off," He said, raising his hand. She shoved him away from her and ducked behind the bar. "His name was Phil."

There was a blast and suddenly, Loki was on the ground.

They looked to the sky where a massive black crater had formed, monsters slipping through.

"Athena, stay here, I'll have someone pick you up."

"Wait, WHAT?!" But he was gone.

People screamed in the streets below and as Loki groaned, forcing himself up, she ran in search of Danielle. Maybe, just maybe, her death will be enough to silence Loki.


	10. Run

**Okay, yes suicide is mentioned, considered and may or may not have been carried out, however I DO NOT SUPPORT SUICIDE AS AN APPROPRIATE WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. DO NOT USE MY CHARACTER TO JUSTIFY HARMING YOURSELF. IF YOU EVER NEED HELP OR JUST SOMEONE TO TALK TO, PM ME AND I WILL ALWAYS RESPOND! With that said, please enjoy. ~A Keeper**

** "Light up, light up as if you have a choice, even if you can not hear my voice I'll be right beside you dear. No more, no more, we don't have time for that, I can hardly speak, I understand why you don't have a voice to say..." -Run, Snow Patrol**

* * *

"Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast," A calm Alexandra Middleton said.

"What did you stop for drive-through?"

"Shut up and be grateful for once."

"Swing up park, I'm going to lay them out for you."

Quickly, Alex hovered above the ground. "Cap, Persephone, Hawkeye, get out, you gotta help civilians." They nodded and jumped out, beginning their own fight.

Nat was on the ship's gun, shooting through the many flying beasts and they came up to the Stark Tower where Loki and Thor were battling.

Alex leveled the plane and Nat began to shoot Loki when he raised his scepter and shot off a wing. Best as possible, they crashed, then, ignorant of their wounds, left the ship to join the battle.

* * *

"_What_ is that?" Jamie exclaimed. They looked up at the sky where a, no joke, mechanical flying whale emerged.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked.

"Seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted. Oh, and when he gets there, would you ask him to get Athena? I left her up in Stark Tower."

"You WHAT?!"

"Gotta go, bye!"

* * *

Chelsea searched frantically, scared that Loki might show up at any moment when she stumbled into a lavish room with an occupant to the bed.

"Darn it, Chelsea would you stop staring and help me?"

"_What_ are you _wearing?"_

"Please don't ask."

She was covered in a gold and green outfit that revealed her abdomen which had gauze wrapped around it. Her breathing was labored. It looked as though she was a female Loki and she was definitely ill. Her face was pale and there were beads of sweat latching to her forehead; whatever wound she had must've been infected.

"Why didn't Loki heal you?"

"Not the right time, I guess." She said quickly. "Please, you have to help me get up, I have to see him."

"I can't."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're just like him."

* * *

Jamie, Cap and Hawkeye were squatting behind a taxi. "We've got civilians trapped up here." Hawkeye said.

Steve spotted a strange looking chitauri flier and muttered, "Loki." After a little rampage of destruction. "They're fish in a barrel down there."

Reluctantly, Jamie said, "We got this, go." He sent her a visual of _heck no!_ When a few blasts came and they rolled aside. Hawkeye went first. "Steve, you have to go."

"But I-"

Jamie kissed him quickly, then whispered. "Go now so you can come back to me sooner."

With a surprised look, he nodded and went down to save people like nothing.

Jamie shook her head then jumped into the fray with Barton.

She hit one square in his face with her elbow and smashed his face in while taking its gun and firing at another while Barton helped a bunch of people who were trapped in a burning bus.

_Come on, Alex, Nat, where are you?_

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Danielle asked. "What do you mean?"

"He said you came here freely...to be his queen." Chelsea's back was to the wall. Now that she was here, now that the moment of truth was upon her, she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill her friend—her sister—who had watched out for her every second she was at SHIELD.

"Chelsea, please let me explain-"

"You're not denying this?"

"No, of course I am. I'm here because we need an inside person. I could do good things here."

"But you love him." Her words startled Danielle. "You love him and he loves you and that's why I can't help you. Do you think Alex and Jamie will ever forgive you when they hear about this? Everything you have done for us would be questioned. Did you really help us at all? Or this entire time, were you in it for him? Danielle, you are going to die. If not now, then SHIELD will hunt you down and do it for you."

"Why aren't you doing it to me then, Chelsea?" She asked, her eyes holding anger and pain and even a little degree of fear. "Why can't you pull the trigger?"

She placed the gun on the nightstand and shook her head, "I'm a doctor, not an executioner."

Then, Dr. Chelsea Marx fled, leaving her friend to die alone.

* * *

"Nat, watch out!"

"Thanks, Artemis, now duck!"

They were slowly making their way to the others, but it was becoming rather difficult.

A fist made contact with Alex's face and she was on the ground at the mercy of the monster when she heard, "Need a hand?" From a familiar perky woman.

Suddenly, they were joined by Jamie, Steve and Barton as well as surrounded by chitauri. Steve went to fight, but they were all suddenly struck by lightening—Thor had arrived.

"Hey!" Chelsea called. "I just came back from Stark Tower—there's no way to the roof."

"Did you find Danny Boy?" Jamie asked, hopeful.

Chelsea sighed, "I'm sorry I found her body."

* * *

"How do we do this?"

"As a team."

The girls turned their attention to The Avengers. Thor said, "I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah?" Barton said. "Well get in line."

"Uh, uh, Clint," Jamie said. "He killed Danielle and Phil, we're going to show him who's boss."

"Oh yeah? Who got possessed first?"

"Save it," Steve said. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's going to need us to-"

The hum of a motorcycle interrupted them. They turned to see none other than Bruce Banner pull up. Chelsea smiled, if nothing else in her life was perfect, at least she had Bruce Banner. "So," He said. "This all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Nat added.

"Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse,"

"Stark, we got him."

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you."

"Hey, before we all go to our likely deaths," Banner said to Chelsea; he took her wrist, brought her forward and kissed her lips.

Stark rounded the corner, causing the couple to pull away quickly. Behind him came the freaky whale thing. "I don't see how that's a party."

Banner began walking towards it. "Bruce?" Chelsea asked. "Now might be a great time to get angry."

"That's my secret, Doctor." He said as the beast came towards him. "I'm always angry." He turned into the Hulk and ultimately destroyed the whale. Tony fired a missile into the flesh and it exploded. Steve shielded Jamie, the Hulk protected Chelsea while Barton, Nat and Alex laid behind a car.

The monsters shrieked angrily, and the Hulk roared while they formed a circle to prepare for all out battle.

More whales came out. Great. "Guys-"

"Call it, Captain." Tony said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything; call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Can you give me a lift?"

"Right, better clench up, Legolas."

They flew up and out of sight.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightening, light the bastards up."

He turned to the girls. "Us four, we stay on the ground, we keep the fighting here. While you, Artemis, are going to Stark Tower, try and figure out a way on to the roof. If not, come back and help us out. Hulk..." The monster looked to him angrily. "Smash."

The beast smiled.

Nat was going crazy destroying those monsters and in all honesty, Alex was almost as destructive as the Hulk with the lives of the beasts, which is why Cap sent her out of the battle.

Currently, she was trying to break through the ceiling to get on to the roof. "Stark, why the heck is your roof destruction proof?" She asked.

"Sorry, Arty, it's a special material I used because I didn't want my roof caving in on me in case one of my enemies got mad and decided to attack."

"You suck."

"That's what I get for trying to save the world with green energy. Maybe I should go back to weapons manufacturing-"

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Cap, I have to get up there to help Artemis. We're not doing anything meaningful if we can't close that portal." Jamie said.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it."

"Maybe it's not about guns."

He paused, wistfully looking at her. He sighed, "If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride."

She looked around and spied a group of chitauri flying towards them. "I got one." She walked to the side of the road. "I could use a boost, though."

He crouched, preparing his shield. "Persephone, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun." She replied nonchalantly. "Oh, yeah, and my name's Jamie." She took off running, leaped on his shield which he used to propel her into the air. She took hold of a flier and pulled herself on to the platform. Upon knocking out the chitauri, she used his limp arms to control the flier.

A couple of chitauri thought they could attack her, but Iron Man came up and helped her out.

She flew by Chelsea and landed, allowing the poor woman to limp on and hold for dear life. "Where are we headed?" The Doctor shouted.

"Stark Tower, we're helping Alex." Just as she said the words, a massive metal whale came towards them, intent on eating them alive when the Hulk came out of nowhere, taking the creature down and slamming it into Stark Tower—the same section of the tower where Chelsea had found Danielle.

Chelsea did not have time to think about it, as a deadly beam nearly made her its victim. "JAMIE, WE'RE BEING SHOT AT!"

"I know, calm down," She told Chelsea. "It's just—LOKI!"

Jamie temporarily lost control, but resumed it quickly. "Hawkeye, you were first in line to shoot Loki?" Jamie asked via comm. "Well, now's your chance!"

Chelsea watched the arrow fire. In her heart, she did not wish for it to reach its target. She didn't know why that feeling came to her and she didn't like that it did, but it did and she did everything in her power to try and ignore it.

Loki reached out and caught it, gazing underwhelmed at Hawkeye when the thing exploded in his face.

Jamie couldn't help but laugh, "Did you see that?" She chuckled. "No? Whatever."

Loki crashed on to the Tower while Jamie landed on the roof, opening the hole Alex had made so that she could climb up and Chelsea could climb down.

Upon doing so, the doctor was greeted by none other than Loki. "_You,"_ He sneered. "Where is Danielle?"

"She is dead," She replied. "I found her room, I found her dead. What did you do to her?!" She pounded against his chest with her fists, but he stood, phased. His face softened and his eyes that seemed so dark and cruel became mingled with such sorrow it could not be faked.

"You lie," He whispered, grabbing her wrists. "If she is dead, where is her body?"

"Buried under a hundred tons of rubble," She growled, tear sliding down her face. "The room I found her in no longer stands."

He slapped her and she fell, "You lie. She can not be dead. We promised...she said-" He raised his hand to strike her again when a massive blob of angry green flesh plowed through, knocking the man of mischief against the wall and on to the floor.

The Hulk went to attack once more when Loki exclaimed, "Enough! You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god you dull creature and I will not be bullied by-"

Bruce grabbed him by his foot and smashed him around like a rag doll, leaving him moaning on the floor. "Puny god."

The creature approached her and frowned. "Hurt?" It asked.

She shook her head and smiled, "No, I'm alright, Bruce."

* * *

"The scepter..."

Jamie and Alex turned to see Dr. Selvig laying on the ground, looking over the edge. "Doctor?"

"Loki's scepter; the energy. The Tesseract can' fight, but you can't protect against yourself."

"It's not your fault," Jamie said. "You didn't know what you were doing."

"Actually, I think I did." They raised eyebrows. "I built in a safety to cut their power source."

Alex picked up,. "Loki's scepter-"

"It may be able to close the portal, and I'm looking right at it."

Alex made the climb down to retrieve it and on her way back up, she found Loki, lying on the ground whining as though he was a dog that got hit by a car. She smirked and ripped her gaze away—it wasn't her place to make sure Loki gets what he deserves, but she will definitely be there to watch him get it.

* * *

Alex took the scepter and pierced the veil of protection. "I can close it," She said. "Can anybody cop? I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" Came Steve's voice. Thank God he was alive. It looked as though he had gotten Jamie back for that scare she had given him what must have been years ago.

"No, wait," Stark said.

* * *

Danielle took the gun in her hand and stared at it. She had made it out of the room before it collapsed, which was a good thing...or was it? Chelsea was right, the others would never forgive her and she had nowhere else to go but up...or down. She didn't know if killing, even if it was the killing of terrorists, would tarnish her reputation as a Christian woman. Not many people knew that she was, but she had to find something to believe in and she found that the things you couldn't see, rather the things that were felt, were the best to believe in.

Freedom is life's great lie. Loki had said so himself. Was it? Or was the great lie that you could have all of the things you cared about when you've been apart of so many negatives? With tears streaming down her face, she heard the gun click into the firing position and debated where was the best place to put a bullet through her body when she heard through her crackling comm, _"I got a nuke coming in."_

She froze, her finger on the trigger.


	11. 100 Years

**THIS IS NOT THE END. STAY TUNED FOR THE "EPILOGUE"**

**"I'm 99 for a moment, I'm dying for just another moment..." -100 Years, Five for Fighting**

* * *

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute and I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said.

"Which is why he's not going to make it." A male's voice said. Just as Stark was turning the nuke up, another Iron man shoved him aside, took the weapon and steered it up and just as he passed through, the strange masculine voice shouted, "Close it now!"

Alex closed the portal.

Only Dr. Chelsea Marx saw a glint of red and gold escape just before the entire thing closed.

What the heck just happened?

"Stark's down," Steve said.

"What? Why? How? I thought-"

The sound of a Hulk's roar echoed loudly through the comm.

"Never mind."

Faintly, she could hear, "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won."

"Well," Alex said. "Not just yet."

"Can we go for shwarma after?"

* * *

Loki woke, his mind fuzzy, but an ache in his heart telling him all he needed to know.

He had lost her.

He sat up and found an arrow pointed at his head. The Avengers and the Legends stood ticked and armed. He had lost the war.

Well, hadn't he already lost everything?

"If it's all the same to you," He said. "I think I'll take that drink now."

* * *

Dr. Chelsea Marx, Alexandra Coulson and Jamie Hill watched as Thor and Loki returned home. Loki had appeared so sad, not saying anything (even without his muzzle.) Losing Danielle and Phil took a big toll on everyone.

Dr. Banner and Dr. Marx held hands as they approached Tony Stark and climbed into his car. Tony had offered his hospitality to them and they would be working together on future projects.

Jamie Hill climbed on to Steve's old motorcycle, wrapping her arms around his waist, she smiled as they rode off on a mission to try and acquaint Steve with the new world.

Alexandra Coulson had changed her last name to honor the man she loved. Currently, she was on her way to the cemetery that honored the victims of the Battle of new York. There were empty graves for both Danielle Jones and Phil Coulson, but no one really knew that save for a few. Their names were also on a memorial plaque on Stark Tower that bore the names of all the medics, police officers and firefighters who lost their lives in the battle—the heroes. No one knows who the second Iron Man was.

Loki was taken to Asgard and that was all anyone knew on Earth. Loki dreamed, but his dreams were only filled with an empty cabin in the middle of a vast wood that never started and never ended.

The Avengers were on a leave of absence. Thor never told anyone about the wards he had placed upon Danielle to prevent any magic from ever coming in contact with her.

The Legends were no more.


	12. The Bells of Notre Dame

**Here it is. I must say that I've become very attached to my characters and it's sad to see them go. :( I will miss you, Danielle, Alex, Chelsea and Jamie. But perhaps, this will not be the last time you see them, hmm? It's up to you, let me know...**

**"Who is the man and who is the monster?" -The Bells of Notre Dame (Instrumental and Regular,) The Hunchback of Notre Dame**

* * *

"I thought you wouldn't show up." Nick Fury said as he approached the graves of Danielle Jones and Phil Coulson.

"What did you think I was going to do instead?"

"Don't know; certainly didn't expect you to contact me to request this little meeting. What do you want?"

"To bargain,"

"What for what?"

"The freedom of the former Legends to do as they please—to not be pulled back into SHIELD against their desires in exchange for my devoted services for as long as you wish."

"You realize that if it was anyone else, this would never happen."

"According to your records, this isn't happening. Currently, your location is eight hundred miles east, yet here you are."

"You'll need a name...and an ID. What information should I put on there?"

"Agent Nemo, born June seventh, no first name, no last name, no place of origin."

"You want to be completely non-existent?"

"I already am."

"What clearance level?"

"Take your pick."

"Twelve."

"Twelve? That's the highest there is."

"I need a secret co-director who gives me straight up field information that can't be tampered."

"You trust me with a job like that?"

"You owe us. You're just paying up."

"Fair enough, you have a deal, Director Fury."

They shook hands, "It's a pleasure, Director Nemo. Good luck."


End file.
